MYOB to buy NZ's Ace Payroll for $14 mln

MYOB to buy NZ's Ace Payroll for $14 mln in latest acquisition

By Paul McBeth

May 28 (BusinessDesk) - MYOB Group, the Australian payment solutions software developer that floated on the ASX this month, has agreed to buy Lower Hutt-based Ace Payroll Plus for $14 million, its third New Zealand acquisition in as many years.

The Melbourne-based company will pay $7 million on completion of the deal, and the remainder next year subject to meeting certain conditions, adding Ace's payrolls service which is used by thousands of New Zealand small- and medium-sized enterprises, MYOB said in a statement. Ace is profitable, and expected to immediately add to the software developer's earnings and increasing average revenue per paying user in New Zealand, and strengthen MYOB's position in the country, it said.

"Together we are the most experienced and most popular provider of payroll solutions in New Zealand," MYOB SME solutions general manager James Scollay said. "Just like MYOB, it (Ace) has been in this market for over 20 years and has established a proven track record of making it easy for kiwi employers to pay their staff."

The Ace acquisition comes after MYOB bought BankLink for $136 million in 2012, giving it ownership of bank-feeds it already used, and last year spent $13.7 million on payroll and HR management software firm PayGlobal.

The Ace acquisition is expected to be completed around May 31.

Ace is owned by an entity associated with Wellington businessmen Julian and Phil Eriksen. Phil Eriksen is the sole director of Ace Payroll Plus, according to Companies Office documents.

MYOB also said it will start developing the next generation of online payrolls services for New Zealand businesses.

The ASX-listed shares last traded at A$3.59, below the A$3.65 initial public offering price.

(BusinessDesk)

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