Anna Money buys BDG and UK Business Forums

Anna Money has acquired Business Data Group and UK Business Forums, adding a UK company formation platform and a 160,000-member small-business community to its operations. Anna said the deal is intended to connect company incorporation more directly with bookkeeping, tax and compliance tools for new businesses.

The announcement did not include financial terms. Anna described BDG as the UK’s leading independent company formation platform, with eFiling and a Partner Program used by thousands of formation agents and their clients each year.

BDG provides infrastructure for agents that help entrepreneurs register companies. Under the structure described by Anna, businesses formed through BDG’s network will be able to move from incorporation into Anna’s tools for managing finance and compliance in a single service environment.

Anna said it does not plan to compete with the independent formation agents that use BDG’s eFiling platform. The company said it will instead invest in technology, automation and tools designed to support those agents’ work.

BDG to retain separate identity

Anna said BDG’s independence will remain in place following the acquisition. Richard Osborne will continue as chairman of BDG, while Rebecca Hill will become chief executive.

The company also said BDG and UK Business Forums will keep their existing brands, teams and commercial relationships. UK Business Forums, known as UKBF, is described by Anna as a community of small business owners with 160,000 members.

The acquisition gives Anna a presence earlier in the business lifecycle, at the point where companies are formed. Formation agents typically handle the administrative steps required to incorporate a company, while finance and compliance platforms serve the business after registration. Anna’s stated aim is to link those stages so that a new company can move from set-up into ongoing administration without changing providers.

Part of Anna’s AI small-business strategy

Anna positioned the acquisition as part of its plan to build an AI-powered platform for small businesses. The company said its service can already raise invoices, chase payments and file taxes.

The company framed the transaction as a way to broaden the services available to newly formed businesses while keeping BDG’s agent-facing role intact. For formation agents, the practical effect described by Anna is that BDG’s core platform will continue to operate, while additional automation and business administration tools are added around it.

The announcement places the deal at the intersection of company formation, small-business finance software and AI-assisted administration. Anna did not provide a timeline for product integration beyond saying that businesses using BDG’s network would be able to move from incorporation into bookkeeping, tax and compliance services.

This story draws on original reporting from Finextra Research.