The financial planning arm of Standard Life Aberdeen has refused to comment on reports it is looking to buy Grant Thornton’s UK wealth advisory unit for around £30m ($38m, €34m).
This would be 1825’s eighth acquisition since its creation in 2015.
Sky News reported that, if completed, the deal would add about 100 employees to 1825, including a handful of partners and roughly 30 IFAs.
Grant Thornton has 23 UK offices, plus one in the BVI and another in the Cayman Islands.
The wealth advisory operation, which offers financial planning services, is headed up by Sheffield-based Neil Messenger and it has four directors across the UK.
International Adviser reached out to Grant Thornton, but the accountancy firm also declined to comment.
1825’s M&A spree
As at 31 December 2018, 1825 had assets under advice of £4bn.
It announced its seventh acquisition in March this year, when it bought BDO Northern Ireland’s wealth management arm.
Previous acquisitions include:
- North East (Pearson Jones – May 2015);
- Scotland (Munro Partnership – July 2016);
- London (Baigrie Davies – Aug 2016);
- North West (Jones Sheridan – Nov 2016);
- South West (Fraser Heath – March 2018); and
- London (Cumberland Place – April 2018).
However, its acquisition ambitions suffered a set back when 1825 tried to acquire Almary Green.
Based in Norwich, discussions to buy the independent advice firm were ended by “mutual agreement” in September 2016.
