IOOF shows interest in buying ANZ wealth

Earlier this month, ANZ announced it would look to sell its wealth businesses in Australia and New Zealand

An IOOF spokesperson told Mortgage Business’s sister publication ifa that the ANZ wealth business “presents very attractively and is a strong strategic fit with existing IOOF businesses”.

“While it’s early days, IOOF would be very interested in participating in the sale process,” the spokesperson said.

“Of course this process is at a very early stage, however, we see that parts of the ANZ wealth business would be a good strategic fit for IOOF.

“We continue to look to businesses which complement our open architecture approach, diversify our client base and broaden our offering of wealth management solutions. Importantly, we also look to future value and strong returns on our investments.”

ANZ said it would look to sell its life insurance, advice and superannuation and investments businesses in Australia after it decided to stop manufacturing wealth products and services. The news came after the bank reported an 18 per cent fall in cash profit for the 2016 financial year.

IOOF said, “Mergers and acquisitions form a key pillar of our strategy and something we are very good at. We find ourselves in a sweet spot at the moment and the opportunities have never been greater.”

ifa reported in October 2015 that IOOF had tried to purchase platform provider Hub24. However, the takeover failed, with Hub24 saying the offer to acquire 100 per cent of its shares was "inadequate".

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said at a Reuters event in Sydney last week that the decision to exit product manufacturing is purely strategic and unrelated to the need to raise regulatory capital.

[Related: ANZ to sell Australian wealth business]