Countplus (CUP)

Shares / Stock Code

CUP

Stock Exchange / Sharemarket

ax

Countplus (CUP) was established in 2007 as a subsidiary business of ASX listed Count Financial Limited and is the holding company of 18 established accounting and financial services businesses across Australia with the vision of growing a network of best practice accounting and financial planning firms to service the full range of client needs. It was listed on the Australian stockmarket (ASX) on 22 December, 2010.

Countplus’ strategic objectives are to:

• Provide a mechanism to list successful and sustainable professional services businesses on ASX and, by accessing funds (through the intitial Listing, retained earnings and borrowings), to make further acquisitions and promote organic growth
• Become a best practice accounting and wealth advice network through the sharing of ideas, practices and systems with fellow Countplus investee firms
• Stimulate profit growth both organically and through acquisitions. Countplus will have access to both Count's resources and the Count network, which will faciliate ongoing growth opportunities.

The first businesses to join the Countplus network, in 2007, were Lawrence Business Management in Western Australia and the MBA Partnership in Queensland. Since then, a total of 18 businesses have joined the network – 16 accounting firms, one financial planning firm and the most recent acquisition, a financial advice dealer group.

In addition, a number of Countplus Investee firms have made ‘tuck in’ acquisitions of other smaller businesses, primarily accounting and financial planning but also includes a legal services firm. In 2010, five Countplus Members were named on BRW’s Top 100 Accounting Firms list – Lawrence Business Management (47), Specialised Business Solutions (85), Evolution Business & Personal Advisers (93), Kidmans Partners (94) and Achieve Corporation (96).