Sequoia gives InterPrac sale a second shot

Sequoia Financial Group said it has appointed an independent advisor to undertake a sale process of InterPrac Financial Planning.

Sequoia did not name which company it has been engaging with for the potential sale.

"This process is at an early stage, and Sequoia will continue to keep the market informed of events concerning the sale process in accordance with its continuous disclosure obligations," it said.

This comes after Sequoia's deal to sell InterPrac to Conquest was left in the air. In early August, ASIC withdrew legal proceedings against Sequoia after it entered an undertaking not to put the Cross Deed of Guarantee at risk tied to the sale of InterPrac Financial Planning, however the group remained coy about the deal with Conquest Investment Management was going ahead.

A spokesperson for Sequoia confirmed options for InterPrac were still being considered at the time, but declined to comment if the development with ASIC meant discussions to offload InterPrac to Conquest were back on.

On May 1, following ASIC's concerns over the divestment of InterPrac, Sequoia said developments subsequent to signing the share sale agreement "had resulted in circumstances where completion cannot occur on terms consistent with those originally contemplated by the parties."

On July 30, however, the Federal Court granted ASIC leave to discontinue its proceedings that commenced in April, when the regulator sought the appointment of receivers to investigate the validity of the sale of InterPrac to Conquest Investment Management.

At the heart of it was the Cross Deed of Guarantee, to which Sequoia, InterPrac and other related entities were party. ASIC also sought to investigate whether the sale was bona fide and the consideration price of $50,000 was fair and reasonable.

On 25 May 2022, Sequoia Financial, Sequoia Wealth and InterPrac entered into a Deed of Cross Guarantee, meaning each entity guaranteed the debts of its each sister companies in the event of a winding up on certain grounds.

Successfully offloading InterPrac to Conquest without the regulator's intervention would have seen the Sequoia group of entities divest itself of liabilities stemming from the Shield and First Guardian master fund collapses.