The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has approved the proposed acquisition of AFH Financial by private equity firm Flexpoint Ford.
The deal is now worth £231.6m ($327.5m, €272.6m) after Flexpoint Ford saw its first offer of £225m reportedly turned down by AFH shareholders.
Flexpoint Ford will acquire via Cortina Bidco, a newly incorporated company indirectly controlled by the US-based private equity firm.
AFH said in a London Stock Exchange statement on 19 May: “The acquisition and scheme, which were approved by AFH shareholders on 26 March 2021, remain subject to the sanction of the high court.
“It is expected that completion of the acquisition will occur as soon as practicable following such sanction.
“A further announcement will be made when the date of the high court hearing to sanction the scheme has been confirmed.”
Rejection
The deal has taken a while to get over the line. For it to go ahead, the wealth manager needed 75% of shareholders to approve the proposal.
On 22 February, International Adviser reported that Slater Investments, which owns almost 13% of the company, turned down the original offer of £225m.
This backlash caused AFH to postpone its general meeting on 1 March and also suspend trading in its shares. It is believed that the general meeting was scheduled to approve the offer.
This forced Flexpoint to increase its bid to £231.6m.
