MYOB and BankLink unite for a new era in cloud accounting

MYOB and BankLink unite to define a new era in cloud accounting

MYOB Holdings Pty Limited (“MYOB”), today announced that one of its subsidiaries, MYOB Finance NZ Limited, has signed an agreement to purchase the unlisted business, BankLink, from Media Transfer Services Limited. The purchase was announced to the Australian Securities Exchange today.

MYOB and BankLink are market leaders in the provision of business management solutions to SMEs and accountants in New Zealand and Australia, and offer highly complementary solutions. This acquisition is a key strategic move that will leverage the strengths of both organisations, and position the new entity to lead the next wave of industry growth – cloud accounting. MYOB’s SME solutions empower businesses to run their own accounting system, and BankLink enables accountants to do the accounting on behalf of the business.

The combined entity will have the most comprehensive set of accounting solutions in the market today. This includes MYOB’s flagship cloud accounting solution AccountRight Live, its entry level online accounting solution LiveAccounts and BankLink’s market leading accountants’ solution BankLink Practice. All solutions will be powered by BankLink bank feeds, known for being secure, reliable and accurate; essential requirements for successful cloud accounting solutions. Having the most secure and accurate bank feeds available is a distinct competitive advantage in delivering MYOB’s cloud strategy. Sales of MYOB’s cloud accounting solutions now make up one-third of all new product registrations, almost three times higher than last year.

BankLink is a highly successful organisation. The BankLink Service is used by nearly 5,000 accounting practices, and more than 320,000 small businesses throughout New Zealand and Australia. Each month, it securely delivers in excess of 13 million customer transactions from more than 100 banks, credit unions, brokers and fund managers. BankLink's commitment to innovation and product development has been recognised with numerous awards.

MYOB Chief Executive Officer, Tim Reed says, “Key to the success of MYOB’s online strategy is its partnership with accountants in practice. The coming together of MYOB and BankLink allows accountants to recommend the most appropriate accounting solution for each and every unique client. In addition, we can now further enhance this partnership by having more team members on the ground focused on accountants in practice and supporting their success.”

Mr Reed says “Accounting is going through a period of rapid innovation. Cloud solutions are replacing desktop applications; bank feeds are a key component of a cloud solution, as they are used as source data for the accounts. The benefits of automatic bank feeds are huge; they significantly reduce the time it takes to do the books. If you are running a small business, it is essential to have accurate financials. BankLink has proprietary methods of supplying accurate, reliable and secure bank feeds that are more accurate and secure than others.”

BankLink‘s General Manager Operations, Richard Reese, says “We are delighted that BankLink will become part of an iconic and reputable business that has a strongly aligned and clear vision for the future. We look forward to future success as part of MYOB."

MYOB will acquire the BankLink business for NZ$136m to be funded by NZ$75m senior bank debt, with the balance funded by an equity funding from MYOB's shareholder. Performance against senior bank debt and MYOB
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