The employment future of Count Financial chief executive Andrew Gale has been placed under a cloud following the proposed takeover of the dealer group by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).
In a statement to the market yesterday, the banking institution announced its intention to buy all the shares of Count through a scheme of arrangement bid.
Hours after the announcement, Count founder and executive chair Barry Lambert told a company briefing he would retain his position with the dealer group in the event of a successful deal.
The future of Gale at the helm of the group was not revealed.
Colonial First State chief executive Brian Bissaker said the retention of staff, including Gale, would be worked through in due course.
“There’s a three-month process that we will be going through that requires court approval, ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) approval, shareholder vote, et cetera, and we’re not an owner until the end of that process, so it’s a little bit premature to talk about individuals,” Bissaker said.
“There will be a retention scheme put in place for key staff and that’s probably as much detail as we could give away at this stage. [Lambert] is the one person we can confirm at this stage. The others we’ll be working through over the next few months.”
When asked directly if Gale would be running Count, Bissaker said: “We’ll be working through that with the people there, including Andrew.
“I honestly haven’t had a chance yet to sit down and talk to Andrew about his future. Until that happens, it’s a bit premature to be making announcements externally on it.”
Under the terms of the Count agreement, CBA intends to retain acquisition target Count’s brand and its operating model and does not plan to pull the pin on its platform arrangements with industry rival BT Financial Group.
“The CBA recognises the unique and independent nature of the Count business and intends to operate Count as a stand-alone business within the CBA wealth management division,” Lambert said.
He said “appropriate and confidential” arrangements, which have not been detailed in the acquisition scheme, would be made to franchises within the dealer group.
He said CBA had not placed any restrictions on the group over its continued use of the BT Wrap platform.
Commenting on the business losing its independence, he said: “In some ways it’s a bad day.
“In fact, my throat got a bit dry as I drove across the [Sydney Harbour] Bridge knowing this was going to happen.
“But I’ve got to act in the best interest of all shareholders.”
Shareholders would have the choice of receiving $1.40 cash or the equivalent CBA shares, with the $1.40 in addition to the company’s recent dividend payable towards the end of the year, he said.
