(23 July 2004 – Australia) Financial services company Axa Pacific says it is eyeing a number of smaller financial planning companies as potential takeover targets.Axa’s strategy is to buy up independent businesses and then integrate them into subsidiaries such as ipac, which it bought in 2002 for $205 million. Axa has made 11 acquisitions to date.
The company has set itself the target of being among the top five financial services outfits for net retail funds flow by the end of 2007, at the same time reaching A$8 billion in funds under advice.
Axa chief executive Andy Penn said this week that the company had a lot of work to do to become a leading player in the industry but that its acquisition strategy was proving successful.
He said the company’s three year strategy, launched in 2000, had seen it become a market leader rather than an underperforming company.