Sharesies Expands B2B Offering With First Acquisition

Wealth app Sharesies has completed its first acquisition as part of its B2B growth strategy.

Sharesies has acquired Orchestra, an Auckland-based equity management platform that offers employee share ownership plans (ESOP) and share registry solutions to private companies in New Zealand and Australia. Clients include Sharesies itself, Les Mills, Beca, Harrison Grierson, Parkable, and HNRY, among others.

The acquisition is a major milestone for Sharesies, whose evolving B2B offering includes Staff Shares and Sharesies Open, which was launched late last year and is already used by 20% of NZX-listed companies. The acquisition will allow Sharesies to support both unlisted and listed companies across New Zealand and Australia with employee and investor equity management, and offer registry services.

Sharesies co-founder and co-CEO Brooke Roberts said the acquisition accelerates Sharesies’ growth into Australia, as well as its core business in New Zealand.

“We already support more than 30 listed companies and 10,000 staff with their staff share schemes and shareholder communications. Joining forces with Orchestra, with its 500+ private company clients and 60,000 shareholders, means we can work with any business to have better connections with their shareholders and create value for their team.

“We’ve used Orchestra at Sharesies for several years and love how it helps our shareholders and team stay informed about their holding at any given time. And we’re looking forward to the Orchestra team joining the Sharesies whānau in our Auckland office.”

Initially, Orchestra’s platform will continue to operate as usual. Over the next 18 months, it’ll merge to become part of the Sharesies app experience, allowing customers to see their personal investments and staff-allocated shares all in one place.

Orchestra board directors Shane Bradley and Simeon Burnett will become shareholders in Sharesies.

Simeon Burnett, also an Orchestra co-founder, said the company was born out of a need to better support equity-backed businesses with distributed ownership, encouraging more investors to invest confidently.

“Teaming up with Sharesies allows the Orchestra team to serve a greater range of businesses in Australasia across the public and private markets, accelerating growth and value for businesses, investors and employees.”

All Orchestra shareholders will receive shares in Sharesies the company.

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