The owners of adviser platform Parmenion are exploring a sale that could see a healthy chunk of the business sold for between £300m-£400m.
The deal was first reported by Sky News, and it is not yet known what proportion of the firm could be offloaded if a deal comes to fruition.
No response was received when International Adviser reached out to Parmenion for confirmation.
The news comes just 18 months after Parmenion was sold by FTSE 250 asset manager Abrdn for £102m to private equity outfit Preservation Capital Partners. Shortly afterwards, 30% was sold to Martin Gilbert-backed consolidator Assetco.
According to Sky News, which quoted “insiders”, it is unlikely Preservation and Assetco will sell the entirety of their stakes, although a stellar offer could reportedly see that position change.
Interestingly, in an interview with our sister publication Portfolio Adviser in June, Assetco chief executive Campbell Fleming described its acquisition of the 30% stake in Parmenion as “brilliant”, adding “we’d like a lot more”.
“That company is doing really well on a standalone basis. You’ll see its profits are up. It has gone from a £4.8m loss to £4.6m profit. It continues to grow, 17% compound annual growth rate and, more importantly, its client retention is in the low-to-high 90s.”
Fleming said: “We would have loved to have more of it, but that didn’t happen.”
International Adviser has reached out to Assetco to ask if the company might, in fact, consider upping its stake, but received no response.
A stock exchange announcement from the consolidator stated: “Parmenion’s board regularly explores options to accelerate the development of the business and maximise its growth potential and value to shareholders. Assetco is supportive of such discussions, and we remain delighted with Parmenion’s progress to date.”
