Brokerage group eToro has acquired Australian stockbroker Spaceship.
In a statement, eToro said that the terms of the acquisition deal could mean it pays up to $80m AUD ($55m) for the company.
“Spaceship and eToro share the goal of making investing accessible for everyone,” said eToro CEO Yoni Assia.
“Like us, they look to the future and we are excited to welcome their team and their clients into the eToro family. With almost two decades’ of experience building, innovating and serving clients around the world, I believe that together eToro and Spaceship can take our offering for Australian users to the next level.”
Spaceship has around 200,000 users and assets under management of $1.5bn AUD ($1.03bn).
The company provides Aussie investors with the ability to invest in managed portfolios. Alternatively, clients can manage their own accounts and invest in US equities.
The company also has tax wrapper accounts that let investors access retirement and other long-term investment products, as well as a scheme that lets clients invest tax-efficiently when saving for a first home deposit.
There are probably a few reasons eToro made the acquisition. One is so that they can offer those tax-efficient accounts, which tend to require a lot of time and investment to set up.
Another is simply to acquire a book of clients from a company that was probably looking to sell, given the pressure that low-cost investment companies have come under in the last couple of years.
Finally, eToro seems to be making an effort to switch its offering to more of an investment platform or even a ‘one stop shop’ set up. Adding these products help them meet that goal.
This is the second big broker acquisition that the company has made in the last two years. In August 2022, eToro acquired US options broker Gatsby, as an attempt to capture market share in the burgeoning retail US options market.
