Consortium Bids $1.38 Billion for Smartgroup

A consortium led by investment firm TPG Global and including Australian private equity investors Potentia and Aware Super have offered to acquire 100% of Australian-based specialist management services company Smartgroup for $1.38 billion, according to media reports. 

The Smartgroup board intends to unanimously recommend—based on current information—a shareholder vote favoring the acquisition, reported Fleet Auto News (FAN) recently. 

Smartgroup services include salary packaging, novated leasing, fleet management, payroll administration, employee share plan administration and workforce optimization.

The business has extended some significant contracts and secured recurring income from salary packaging despite the disruption to vehicle deliveries and revenue from novated leasing, according to FAN. 

A Smartgroup three-year initiative, Smart Future, aims to optimize the customer experience, enhance digital platforms and streamline operations, FAN also reported. The initiative’s projects include redesigning client and customer portals, migrating to cloud infrastructure and software, investing in business automation and enhancing data analytics capability.