Computershare acquires connectnow

Computershare (ASX: CPU) today announced that it has acquired connectnow, Australia and New Zealand's leading moving home services provider.

Computershare is the world’s largest provider of investor services and also provides specialised financial, governance and stakeholder communication services. Computershare is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with a market capitalisation of approximately $4 billion.

As part of the transaction Computershare has also acquired two other businesses, Serviceworks Management and switchwise, which will be combined with connectnow to form an innovative new Utilities Service Division within Computershare.

Serviceworks Management is one of Australia’s fastest growing utilities service providers specialising in providing end-to-end customer management, solutions development and consulting services to the Australian utilities sector (electricity, gas and water).

switchwise is Australia's leading online energy comparison and supplier switching service performing over half a million comparisons for customers each year to enable them to find more competitive deals on electricity and gas.

In announcing the acquisitions, Computershare CEO Stuart Crosby said, “We are thrilled to be able to join forces with connectnow, Serviceworks Management and switchwise. The alignment with our core competencies is attractive, as are the quality of these businesses’ management and processes. But it is the opportunity to assist these businesses realise their significant growth potential that excites us the most.”

“We see connectnow as an exceptionally well positioned business to benefit from regulatory change in the markets for the services it provides, with strong organic growth potential as a result. As with all our businesses, we will also be on the look-out for value accretive acquisition opportunities to build on its footprint.”

connectnow General Manager, Scott Kessler, said, “This is a very exciting development for connectnow. Computershare will provide a significant boost to our capacity to manage our rapid growth, assist us to develop the best possible services for our customers and clients and to expand our business into new geographic markets.”