Mitsubishi UFJ to acquire Australia's Link Administration for $800 mn

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is set to acquire Australian pension administration firm Link Administration for AUS$1.2 billion ($802.7 million) as Japan's largest banking group looks to boost its fund administrator business.

The deal marks Mitsubishi UFJ's seventh acquisition in the fund administration industry in last 10 years. Their past deals include acquisition of UBS Asset Management's alternative fund services business in 2015.

Link said the company’s shareholders will receive AUS$2.10 in cash, or AUS$1.11 billion in total, in addition to a dividend of AUS$0.16 per share which will be paid by the company. This takes the total valuation of the company to AUS$2.1 billion.

The purchase price marks a 23.5 per cent premium to Friday's closing price.

“Mitsubishi UFJ said the acquisition will enable MUFG to further accelerate its global business expansion via access to Australian funds and global corporate clients,” Mitsubishi UFJ said on acquisition. 

The Japanese banking group briefed media that Link will help the group expand in new markets such as Canada and the Netherlands and boost the efficiency of its fund administration business by consolidating some operations.
The share purchase, expected to begin from June 2024, is subject to shareholder approvals and court and regulatory authorities.

The Link board said it recommends their shareholders to vote in favour of the scheme in the absence of a better proposal.

Notably, Link is the largest Australian pension administration company, providing services to 10 million accounts or 41 per cent of Australian private pension members.
The enterprise also provides the share registry business in Australia, UK and India.

An executive from Mitsubishi UFJ said the group plans to maintain its partnership in shareholder identification services with Georgeson, a unit of share registry service giant Computershare.