Computershare, the 50% owner of Hong Kong's largest share registrar, Central Registration Hong Kong, has agreed to acquire the outstanding 50% from a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings for HK$164 million ($21.02 million) in cash.
The transaction, to be complete by next week, will give Computershare free rein to align Central Registration with its other share registration centres in key financial markets. The company also says it plans to invest more in Central Registration’s infrastructure in anticipation of a scripless market in Hong Kong.
Computershare will fund the acquisition from existing debt facilities and cash reserves, which were boosted last week when the company sold its SUMMIT product line of back-office broker accounting software to Wilco International for A$6.4 million ($3.38 million).
"The acquisition of HSBC's share in Central Registration represents a strategic move by Computershare to build our unique global network of share registrars in Asia, and to own the leading player in the region's largest securities market outside Japan," says Julian Leiper, executive chairman of Central Registration.
Mike Scales, an HSBC representative on the board of Central Registration, explains that the move makes sense given the formre partners' areas of expertise. “As the Hong Kong market becomes increasingly sophisticated, it's appropriate that Computershare, whose core expertise is running share registration businesses, should take Central Registration forward,” he says. “We pass our interest in the company to Computershare with great confidence.”
Commenting on the move to full ownership, Chris Morris, Computershare’s group managing director, notes, "Increasingly, share registration is a sophisticated, computer-driven and internet-enabled service as financial markets become global. To compete in this business, we need significant equity in operations strategically positioned in all of the world's key financial centres.”
The change of control does not signal any personnel changes at the company. Leiper, having been seconded to Central Registration from the UK operations of Computershare in January, will remain as executive chairman. David Lee, who has been managing director for the last 10 years, will also remain.
Australian-based Computershare is a global share registrar, or transfer agent, with over 61 million shareholder accounts in its integrated network of nine worldwide operations.
