UK wealth management firm Brown Shipley will acquire Cambridge-based financial planning business NW Brown & Co for an undisclosed fee.
The acquisition is part of the firm’s growth strategy to bolster its regional opportunities and will increase its total assets under management to almost £9bn ($11.4bn, €10.1bn).
Founded in Cambridge in 1974, NW Brown offers private clients a range of financial planning and investment management services.
It will be fully integrated into Brown Shipley by 2020, serving as the East Anglia hub for the business and adding to the six existing Brown Shipley offices, nationwide.
The firm has £1bn of discretionary funds under management and 74 employees.
Significant opportunities
“Cambridge, Norwich and the surrounding area is a hotbed of innovation and ‘entrepreneurialism’ and this acquisition provides significant opportunities for us to grow across the region,” Alan Mathewson, chief executive of Brown Shipley, said. “We look forward to putting in place the exciting growth plans we have for the business.”
Rory Tapner, chair of the wealth management firm, added: “This acquisition is an exciting and significant step in the ongoing drive to increase Brown Shipley’s scale across the UK.
“There are numerous synergies between Brown Shipley and NW Brown across their wealth management client propositions and employee culture, making the business an ideal fit.”
The deal is expected to complete by the end of Q3 2019, subject to regulatory approval.
Recent M&A deals
Brown Shipley has been fairly busy over the last few years, having made a number of wealth management acquisitions in a rather hectic M&A space.
In 2015, it acquired Hampton Dean, a chartered independent firm of financial planners based in Nottingham.
It also bought Manchester-based financial planner The Roberts Partnership in 2016 and the UK branch of Insinger de Beaufort in 2017.
This is the firm’s first acquisition for two years.
