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Steadfast targets up to 70 brokerages before float

Steadfast plans to buy shares in around 60 to 70 brokers, four underwriting agencies and three ancillary businesses as part of its public listing.

Members will vote at an extraordinary general meeting on June 14 on a restructure of the company to enable the public share offer.

A 125-page information document for the meeting states Steadfast expects to have earnings before interest, tax and amortisation of at least $35 million at listing, after $5 million corporate support costs.

Listing approval will probably require a certain percentage of the agreed “target acquisitions” to be completed; if that does not happen the public offer and restructure will not proceed in its current form, the document says.

The broker group plans to buy 87.5% of White Outsourcing, a provider to financial services companies, 25% of insurance specialist Meridian Lawyers and 50% of life insurance broker Finserv.

Steadfast brokers will receive “reweighting shares”, allocations based on their net tangible assets plus a multiple of Steadfast’s estimated normalised ongoing profits and an allocation that reflects their historical contribution to revenue.

The broker shareholders and will have time restrictions on when they can sell the shares.

The company intends to issue shares through an institutional book build, an offer to retail investors and high-net-worth individuals, a priority offer to Steadfast brokers or their nominees and a limited number of people on the “chairman’s list”.

The minimum offer price will be $1 a share.

Steadfast proposes providing updated financial information early next month, when members will vote on the reweighting and capital changes, directors’ remuneration and executive loans to CEO Robert Kelly, COO Cameron McCullagh, CFO Stephen Humphrys and EGM Allan Reynolds.

If the meeting approves the restructure, Steadfast aims to lodge its prospectus on June 28 and the initial public offer would open on July 11, with the company listing at the end of July or in August.

Steadfast expects to pay out 65% to 85% of net profit in fully franked dividends.