Investment Research buys sharechat website from Tarawera

Investment Research buys sharechat website from Tarawera Publishing

June 13 (BusinessDesk) – Investment Research Group Ltd., the financial services company that got an infusion of funds from investors including two Malaysian businessmen, has acquired the sharechat website from Rotorua-based Tarawera Publishing Ltd.

No price was given for the transaction and IRG managing direct Brent King said it was below the threshold where the NZX requires disclosure.

The purchase is effective today. King said it will enable the rationalisation of seven websites already operated by his firm.

“We see some real benefits for the group,” King said. “There will be a lot of changes for our sites and this site.”

IRG operates seven websites related to finance and investing – moneyonline.co.nz, irg.co.nz, irgbop.co.nz (the Bay of Plenty arm), shareinfo.co.nz, equity.co.nz, shareclub.co.nz and nzinvestor.co.nz.

IRG is now 55% owned by GA Sego Ltd., a New Zealand-registered company half owned by Sego Holdings (NZ), a vehicle for Malaysian businessmen Hamid bin Bugo and Rewi Hamid Bugo, and Auckland-based GA Group, whose owner is Timothy Keene.

The funds have provided a lifeline for IRG. They have allowed it to “plan positively for the future and this is the first acquisition within its strategic plan,” King said.

Tarawera Publishing plans to focus on its core publishing areas of the financial services industry, interest rates and property investment, said managing director Philip Macalister. It publishes NZ Property Investor, ASSET and the NZ Mortgage Magazine.

Shares of IRG last traded on the NZAX market on June 9 at 0.8 cent, valuing the company at $4.1 million.

(BusinessDesk)

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