Listed adviser AFH Financial has acquired the assets of Rochester-based adviser CIB Wealth Management for almost £975,000, marking its eighth acquisition since the firm listed on Aim in June 2014 and the fifth during the current financial year.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the maximum consideration payable is £973,350. The acquisition will boost AFH’s funds under management by £41m.
This is made up of £453,600 payable upon completion and the issue of 31,500 ordinary shares of 10p each in the company to Jonathan Dalby, the owner of CIB, at a price of 150p per consideration share.
A further deferred consideration of up to £472,500 will be payable over the next 26 months in two tranches, dependent on CIB’s performance over the next two years.
The deferred consideration is expected to be settled 90 per cent through cash and 10 per cent through the issue of new ordinary shares of AFH, based on the prevailing mid-market price of its ordinary shares on the date the deferred consideration is paid.
Application has been made to admit the consideration shares to trade on Aim and it is expected to be traded from 4 March.
Following the issue of the consideration shares, the issued share capital of the company will comprise of 19,492,754 ordinary shares of 10p, each with one voting right.
Last month, the firm acquired Kidderminster-based KL Plester Financial Services Holdings for £1.7m.
Recent purchases also include Knight O’Byrne, Finlay Gow and Company and Hindsight Financial Services, meaning that by January the total adviser count stood at 137.
Last year, plans were made to expand the national presence during 2015 by acquiring firms in London and the south east.
Alan Hudson, chief executive of AFH, said the latest acquisition particularly develops its presence in the south east. “Importantly, it also provides CIB advisers the opportunity to develop their own client bases with the support and infrastructure of a larger business and to build a future capital value through AFH’s in-house adviser practice buy-out scheme,” he added.
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
