IRVING, Texas, March 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR), a leading provider of tax-smart financial solutions that empower people’s goals, today announced that it entered into an agreement to acquire 1st Global, Inc., a tax-focused wealth management company. 1st Global, based in Dallas, Texas, serves about 850 independent advisors with approximately $18 billion in total client assets and $9 billion in for-fee advisory assets.
The transaction, which is expected to be accretive to Blucora’s earnings per share and free cash flow, brings together two leaders in the tax-focused wealth management space. The complementary nature of the companies’ business models creates numerous synergies and growth opportunities for the combined company. 1st Global, the No. 2 tax-focused independent broker-dealer based on total revenue, specializes in servicing large, multi-partner accounting firms, while HD Vest, the No. 1 tax-focused independent broker-dealer, focuses primarily on converting individual tax preparers into wealth advisors.
Blucora and 1st Global believe that every financial and investment decision, at its core, is a tax decision. Integrating tax information with wealth management enables our advisors to provide more comprehensive advice to clients, uncovering opportunities that others often miss. This supports Blucora’s mission to enable advisors to minimize taxes, maximize wealth, increase cash flow and enable better long-term outcomes for their clients.
“This transaction is in line with our strategy to accelerate growth and deliver enhanced results to shareholders,” said John Clendening, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blucora. “Clients are underserved unless their financial advisor has the capability to advise specifically on the tax implications of investment decisions. We now have the opportunity to leverage each businesses’ unique capabilities and technologies to help advisors deepen their relationships with clients while expanding our footprint in the marketplace to drive scale and growth.”
Tony Batman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of 1st Global, said, “Given Blucora’s strong business model and demonstrated execution, and the similarities between the businesses, we believe Blucora is the ideal acquirer for us. We know that Blucora shares our vision and that together we are better and stronger with the shared talent and expertise of the two businesses. This will provide our advisors and their clients with even greater service, support and solutions for years to come.”
Key Benefits
- Highly strategic expansion of Blucora’s leadership role in delivery of tax-smart wealth management services
- Generates significant scale and expands addressable market by combining HD Vest’s individual tax advisor focus with 1st Global’s institutional/multi-partner focus
- Rapidly accelerates scale of wealth management business, providing higher base of recurring, non-seasonal revenues and cash flows
- Opportunity to accelerate organic growth by applying best practices and taking best of breed technology, products and procedures to support advisors
- Advisors and clients to benefit from broader capabilities across advisory and brokerage services
- Expected to be accretive to EPS, and other key performance indicators such as advisor productivity and return on client assets
- Significant identified revenue and cost synergies. High portion of external synergies contractual in nature and known
Transaction Details
The transaction is structured as a stock purchase with a purchase price of $180 million. The company intends to fund the transaction with cash on hand and a $125 million add-on to its existing credit facility, due in 2024. Blucora expects to utilize its strong cash flow generation to rapidly deleverage.
Blucora estimates the transaction can generate $23 - $24 million of run-rate Adjusted EBITDA(1), (2) accretion by the end of 2019. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.
Company Updates First Quarter and Tax Season Outlook
The company has updated its outlook for the first quarter of 2019 as indicated in the table below. The improved outlook is primarily the result of higher expected tax preparation revenue, driven by price contribution as well as the timing of volume between quarters.
First Quarter 2019 - Consolidated
| $ mil., except per share | Current Outlook | Previous Outlook | Change |
| Revenue | $224.0 - $229.0 | $213.5 - $218.5 | $10.5 - $10.5 |
| Net Income | $57.5 - $60.0 | $48.0 - $50.5 | $9.5 - $9.5 |
| Net Income per share | $1.14 - $1.20 | $0.95 - $1.00 | $0.19 - $0.20 |
| Adjusted EBITDA(1)(3) | $78.5 - $82.0 | $68.5 - $72.5 | $10.0 - $9.5 |
| Non-GAAP Net Income (1) | $71.0 - $74.5 | $60.0 - $63.5 | $11.0 - $11.0 |
| Non-GAAP Net Income per share (1) | $1.41 - $1.49 | $1.19 - $1.26 | $0.22 - $0.23 |
First Half 2019 – Tax Preparation
| Current Outlook | Previous Outlook | |
| Revenue (y/y growth) | 8% - 11% | 7.5% – 10% |
| Segment Margin | 56.9% – 58.1% | 56.7% – 57.7% |
About Blucora®
Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR) is on the forefront of financial technology, pioneering tax-smart financial solutions that empower people’s goals. Blucora operates through two primary businesses, HD Vest, the No. 1 tax-focused broker-dealer with $42 billion in total client assets as of December 31, 2018, and TaxAct, the No. 3 tax preparation software by market share with approximately 4 million consumer and professional users. With integrated tax and wealth management, Blucora is uniquely positioned to provide better long-term outcomes for customers with holistic, tax-advantaged solutions. For more information on Blucora, visit www.blucora.com.
