The deal, still subject to regulatory approval, is expected to be completed during the second quarter of this year and will involve its Dublin-based subsidiary, Investec Holdings (Ireland), will buy out Neontar’s shares for a consideration of €27m (£22.6m), the firm’s net asset value, as well as a further €4.4m in cash.
Neontar Ltd owns the NCB Group, an investment firm founded in 1981 by Irish entrepreneur Dermot Desmond, before being sold to Ulster Bank in 1994 which was in turn owned by Nat West Bank. In 2003, three years after RBS acquired Nat West, the current ownership structure was put in place whereby a management buy-out saw 75% of the firm owned by its staff.
The company’s wealth management division has €1.3bn of assets under management and offers stockbroking, investment management, retirement planning, property, private equity and alternative investment management services.
This deal comes hot on the heels of its acquisition in September last year of Evolution, owner of Williams de Broë, that had recently taken on BNP Paribas Private Investment Management Limited, the former Fortis Private Investment Management business in the UK.
In 2010, Rensburg Sheppards was added to Investec’s Private Client Activities division with the business subsequently being rebranded as Investec Wealth and Investment.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Michael Cullen, chief executive of Investec Ireland, said: “The transaction will provide a strengthened and diversified offering to both sets of our clients, bolstering Investec’s capability to become one of Ireland’s leading specialist banking groups.”
