Caledonia Investments has bought 7IM Holdings as part of a £100m deal with Zurich and Aegon UK.
Subject to regulatory approval, Caledonia will invest up to £77m in cash to acquire approximately 94 per cent of 7IM Holdings, which has a controlling interest in discretionary fund manager Seven Investment Management.
7IM’s management team will subscribe £5m for the remaining equity, with the balance of the purchase costs to be provided by £25m of bank debt, which Caledonia has agreed to underwrite.
Duncan Johnson, Caledonia’s head of unquoted investments, said: “Caledonia has a long history of investing in successful fund management businesses.
“We look forward to supporting chief executive Tom Sheridan and his team in building on 7IM’s impressive growth record and strong investment performance to service an expanding UK wealth management market where there is a growing demand for multi-asset and multi-manager funds.”
7IM was established in 2002. As of 30 April 2015, it had assets under management and administration of approximately £9.5bn.
Tom Sheridan, 7IM’s chief executive, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Caledonia in the next phase of 7IM’s development.”
Adviser view
Peter Chadborn, director of Essex-based Plan Money, said: “So far, 7IM business has always been managed carefully and the decisions always seem to be the right ones.
“As long as the new investor does not interfere with the daily running of the company I do not foresee that we as intermediaries will notice any difference.”
