Computershare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Founded in Australia in 1978, Computershare (ASX: CPU) has grown (largely through overseas acquisitions) to become the world's largest share registry business.
The company now has a presence in:
- Australia
- the UK
- Ireland
- the US
- Canada
- the Channel Islands
- South Africa
- Hong Kong
- New Zealand and
- Germany
Computershare's UK operations are the result of the company's 1997 acquisition of the Royal Bank of Scotland's registrars department, which in turn had previously been bought from NatWest (this earlier acquisition had occurred some years prior to the Royal Bank of Scotland Group's 2000 takeover of NatWest).
Computershare primarily provides stock registration and transfer services to companies listed on stock markets, but also offers other facilities such as technology services for stock exchanges, investor services for shareholders and employee share plan management.
With the recent acquisition of Equiserve, Computershare is now one of the largest share registry providers in the US.
As part of a strategy of concentrating on its core businesses, on November 21 2005 Computershare announced its intention to sell its Markets Technology business to long-time rival OMX of Sweden. The transaction closed on January 31 2006. Under the deal, OMX acquires the X-stream and Horizon trading systems, and the Equator depository system. In addition to a cash payment, the transaction also provides Computershare with enhanced access to the Nordic market for its share registry and shareholder communications services.
Computershare is publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange under the symbol CPU. In North America, CPU ADRs trade under the symbols CMSQF and CMSQY.
The chief executive of Computershare is Stuart Crosby.
