Davy Private Clients has acquired Northern Irish wealth manager Graham Corry Cheevers for an undisclosed sum as part of an expansion strategy from the Republic of Ireland into UK territories.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but it is expected to complete within a month, with the GCC team moving to Davy’s headquarters in Belfast.
GCC is lead by its three founding partners, Gavin Graham, Brian Corry and Nigel Cheevers, with around 2,500 clients and £230m in assets under management.
The acquisition follows that of another Belfast-based IFA, Square Seven Financial Planning at the start of last year, with Davy now having 30 staff in Northern Ireland and more than £650m in assets under management.
Stephen Felle, chief executive of Davy Private Clients UK, told FTAdviser that the Belfast branch was opened in 2007, but was “sub-scale” for several years as a consequence of under investment following the financial crisis.
Since 2011 the business has invested north of the border, both organically and inorganically, with the intention of making the firm the biggest of its kind across the whole of the island.
“We had to make significant investment in our systems to make sure they were working in Sterling and complaint with UK tax law, but now that’s all done I expect we’ll make one or two more acquisitions to consolidate our position,” stated Mr Felle.
The firm has had a London office since 2011, although that is currently used for capital markets trading on the institutional side. Mr Felle added that moving the retail business to the mainland UK is a “natural next step”, but is unlikely to happen until late next year in any meaningful way.
In December, Davy appointed ex-Towry chief executive Andrew Fisher to its advisory board in order to help grow the business across the UK.
peter.walker@ft.com
