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Australian tradie marketplace Hipages Group Holdings (ASX: HPG) has acquired a 51 per cent stake in digital insurance platform VIZ Insurance marking the Sydney-based group's push into insurance distribution for the first time.
The $1.4 million acquisition has been announced in tandem with an on-market share buy-back of up to 10 per cent of Hipages' issued capital following a sharp drop in the group's shares over the past six months.
Hipages has acquired the majority stake in VIZ Insurance from Insurtech Gateway Australia, a Sydney-based insurtech incubator and venture investor.
VIZ is a digital-first insurance platform designed specifically for tradespeople, offering products such as public liability, tools and equipment, and commercial motor cover through an online quoting and binding engine.
The acquisition gives Hipages a direct insurance channel into its network of more than 35,000 tradie customers.
Under the deal structure, Hipages holds the controlling 51 per cent interest, with VIZ founder Simon O'Dell retaining the remaining 49 per cent and continuing to lead the business.
“The acquisition of VIZ Insurance is the next exciting step in our platform strategy," says Hipages CEO and co-founder Roby Sharon-Zipser.
“Insurance is a non-discretionary product that every trade business needs to operate. The VIZ team has developed an innovative digital-first platform targeted at tradies that is a perfect fit for Hipages."
Sharon-Zipser says VIZ Insurance has been delivering "strong growth", although Hipages does not provide any financial details for the new subsidiary.
“Our platform strategy enables us to access new markets and materially increase our TAM (total addressable market)," says the CEO.
"By adding new value-added services on our ‘hipages for business’ platform, we aim to become the operating system for trade businesses, which will drive increased retention, revenue growth and cash generation, and deliver significant value for our shareholders.”
Meanwhile, the share buy-back announced alongside the VIZ deal authorises Hipages to repurchase up to 10 per cent of its issued share capital on-market over a period of up to 12 months. The buy-back is expected to commence on or after 14 May 2026.
The buyback follows a sharp drop for Hipages shares which hit a recent peak of $1.50 in October last year.
The shares have been edging lower since then, falling to a low of 68.5c earlier this week.
The latest announcement comes on the back of a strong first half for the group where Hipages reported H1 FY26 revenue of $44.9 million, up 11 per cent on the prior corresponding period, with EBITDA rising 29 per cent to $11.2 million.
The EBITDA margin expanded four percentage points to 25 per cent.
Statutory net profit after tax hit $2.7 million for the half, a sharp turnaround from about $100,000 in the prior corresponding period.
Hipages is targeting FY26 full-year revenue of $90 million to $91 million and an EBITDA margin of 24 to 26 per cent.
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