MYOB up for grabs but ANZ unlikely to re-enter the running

MYOB’s purchase could allow two UK-based rivals greater access to the Australian market.

Accounting software company MYOB could be placed on the market next year, and global accounting software rivals Sage, Constellation Software and The Access Group could line up for the business.

It comes after ANZ recently came close to buying MYOB for more than $4bn.

DataRoom understands that the big-four bank has had its eye on MYOB for years and had even approached the company, when it was listed, about buying a 20 per cent stake – before it was purchased by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts in a buyout proposal in 2019 for $2bn.

Bringing online banking and accounting functions together is seen as the ultimate when it comes to customer convenience in banking, hence the attraction for ANZ, but the practicalities of doing so are not seen as simple.

In the end, the understanding is that ANZ told KKR to name its price when it came to buying the business in a deal that was live until recent weeks.

Given that ANZ was keen to also buy Suncorp Bank, it needed to raise equity to accommodate both transactions and there was a view that the market would not be prepared to back its $3.5bn entitlement offer, sources have said.

The bank then announced it was placing plans to buy MYOB on hold.

The understanding was that ANZ’s management had been keen to buy MYOB but the board blocked the deal.

Now the view is that ANZ is unlikely to return to negotiations with KKR to buy the business.

But the question is whether KKR can command a similar price from other buyers.

Sage, based in the UK, is the world’s third largest supplier of enterprise resource planning software and the largest supplier to small businesses.

It would likely see MYOB as a good fit for its business, providing an opportunity to expand back into the Australia market.

Business management software company The Access Group, also based in the UK, purchased Sage’s local businesses in Australia and Asia in 2021, so it too could be a buyer, as could global software company Constellation Software.