ASX set to sell shares in Yieldbroker

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

28 April 2023

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has received notice of a proposal to sell 100 per cent of shares in online trading platform Yieldbroker, of which it owns 43 per cent, to a subsidiary of Tradeweb Markets.

In an announcement made on Thursday morning on the exchange, the proposed sale is AUD$125 million on a “cash-free, debt-free basis and assuming a normalised level of working capital” which, if successful, the ASX is set to collect its current carrying value of AUD$30 million.

The remaining shares in Yieldbroker are owned by several domestic and international banks including ANZ, CBA, Citi, Deutsche, JPMorgan, Macquarie, NAB, RBC, TD, UBS and Westpac.

“The Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions and there is no certainty that it will proceed,” the announcement said.

“If the Proposed Transaction proceeds as outlined above, ASX will recognise a reversal of prior year impairment losses of approximately AUD$25 million after tax. This gain will be classified as a significant item in ASX’s financial reporting framework.”

The meeting to consider and vote on the proposal will be held on 22 May, with the ASX’s participation in the transaction subject to ASX Board approval.