Singapore’s Syfe makes A$65 million bid for Australian investing platform SelfWealth

SINGAPORE-BASED digital wealth platform Syfe on Tuesday (Feb 4) said it made a non-binding indicative offer to acquire SelfWealth, an Australia-listed digital investing platform, for A$65 million (S$54.7 million).

In a post on LinkedIn, the group confirmed media reports that it made the offer at a 12 per cent premium over an existing offer.

“As part of this process, we have also acquired a substantial 18.8 per cent stake in SelfWealth, demonstrating our strong conviction to pursue this opportunity,” said Syfe.

Australia Financial Review earlier reported that Syfe’s offer at A$0.28 a share beats a competing bid from Australian brokerage Bell Financial Group. The group, which made an initial offer of S$0.22 a share, increased its offer to A$0.25 a share in late November.

The acquisition will expand Syfe’s presence in Australia, as it will add SelfWealth’s “well-established customer base, employees and reputation to Syfe’s technology-driven solutions”, said the platform. Besides Australia, Syfe has operations in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The move aligns with the group’s strategy outlined during its Series C-1 funding round, as it identified then that acquisitions would be a key lever to accelerate growth and expand its platform.

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In a separate LinkedIn post, Syfe founder and chief executive Dhruv Arora said SelfWealth users will benefit from a “more diversified product offering”.

“SelfWealth has built a trusted brand and a strong presence in Australia’s investing landscape – with over US$7 billion in assets. We see immense potential in combining our strengths to deliver greater value to those who matter most – the end-customer,” he said.