Bain-owned MYOB completes BankLink bolt-on

The combination of MYOB - which allows small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to run their own accounting systems - and BankLink - which enables accountants to do accounting on behalf of such businesses - is seen as well suited to the industry's gradual transition to cloud-based solutions. Sales of cloud accounting systems now make up one third of MYOB's product registrations, a near threefold increase on last year.

BankLink's secure bank feeds are used by nearly 5,000 accounting practices and more than 320,000 SMEs in Australia and New Zealand. It processes in excess of 13 million transactions from 100 or so banks, credit unions, brokers and fund managers each month.

"The acquisition of BankLink is highly strategic; the competitive advantage provided by their integrated bank feeds is key to MYOB's cloud offerings," said Craig Boyce, managing director at Bain, in a statement. "We look forward to further supporting and investing in MYOB's growth and product development in the coming years."

BankLink's European business does not form part of the acquisition. It will be renamed Bankstream and run by Derek Jones, a director at BankLink.

MYOB provides business management, accounting, payroll and tax software to nearly one million businesses in Australia and New Zealand, most of them SMEs, and more than 40,000 accountants. Bain acquired the business in August 2011 from Archer Capital and HarbourVest Partners. It paid around A$1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) after overcoming competition from KKR and a late bid from UK software firm Sage Group.

Last November MYOB issued A$125 million in subordinated notes to pay down debt used to finance its acquisition and also to return capital to Bain.

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