One of Australia's four major banks has announced its joint bid to acquire Property Exchange Australia Limited (PEXA) has been accepted.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), alongside Link Administration Holdings Limited and Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners Inc., submitted a bid which has now been accepted by shareholders holding a majority of PEXA's shares.
The consortium will pay an enterprise value of up to approximately $1.6 billion, depending on the level of final acceptances to the trade sale offer received by PEXA’s shareholders.
CBA was already a key stakeholder in the e-conveyancing platform. PEXA assists members, such as lawyers, conveyancers and financial institutions, to lodge documents with Land Registries and complete financial settlements electronically.
States across Australia have been moving across to the platform as the country aims for loans to become 100% digital.
CBA chief executive officer Matt Comyn said, “Having been a key stakeholder in PEXA since its inception in 2011, today’s announcement represents our continued commitment to support the property industry as it transitions towards an innovative, fully digital, settlements process that aims to provide improved experiences for customers.”
CBA said the transaction aligns with its strategy to focus on its core banking businesses and to create a simpler, better bank for our customers. As part of the transaction, which is subject to a number of conditions precedent, CBA will invest a further $50 million, totalling approximately $100 million invested in PEXA to date.
This will result in an increase in our ownership stake from 13.1% to approximately 16%.
