International wealth management business Kingswood has agreed to acquire UK-based advice company Money Matters North East (MMNE).
MMNE is an IFA firm based in Redcar, north Yorkshire and currently employs 13 people, including three financial advisers.
It manages around £115m ($154m, €135m) assets under advice on behalf of some 600 clients.
This is Kingswood’s second UK acquisition of 2021 after it agreed to buy Lincolnshire-based financial planning firm Admiral Wealth Management for £4m.
Finances
Following regulatory approval, MMNE will be acquired for total cash consideration of up to £3.4m, payable over a two-year period.
Around £1.7m will be paid at closing, and the balance paid on a deferred basis, some of which is subject to the achievement of pre-agreed performance targets.
On completion, the MMNE acquisition will be financed from funds recently received by Kingswood from the issue of new convertible preference shares, under the terms of its convertible preference share subscription agreement with HSQ Investment, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of funds managed and/or advised by Pollen Street Capital.
Kingswood’s partnership with Pollen Street has provided growth equity of £44.8m to support existing and future acquisitions.
More deals in pipeline
David Lawrence, UK chief executive at Kingswood, said: “Since becoming UK chief executive late last year, I have focused on building momentum in the business and expanding our capabilities to integrate and grow. I am thrilled to announce our acquisition of MMNE and look forward to welcoming Alastair Raine, Chris Woodhams and the whole team to Kingswood.
“Both Chris and Alastair have extensive experience as financial advisers and started MMNE in 2010 with a vision to combine their extensive expertise together to create a client centred business which is a vision that we share at Kingswood.
“We remain committed to perpetuating our stated growth strategy within the UK and internationally. This is our second acquisition of 2021 and we continue to have a strong pipeline of high-quality UK opportunities under negotiation, six of which are in exclusive due diligence as we continue to grow our financial planning and investment management reach across the UK.
“We expect to be making more announcements over the coming weeks.’’
