Kingswood buys Harrogate-based Iboss for £16m

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Kingswood buys Harrogate-based Iboss for £16m

Kingswood Holding has continued its buying spree with the purchase of Harrogate-based Iboss Group for £16m.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will see Kingswood buy Metnor Holdings, which holds Iboss Asset Management Limited and financial adviser Novus Financial Services, which together form the Iboss group.

Metnor shareholders will get a cash payment of £9.6m, followed by a maximum of £6.4m of deferred payments over a two-year period subject to performance targets being met.

The transaction will see Kingswood’s UK assets under management reach £3bn, with plans to more than double this figure over the next three years. 

David Lawrence, UK chief executive at Kingswood, said: "My ambition when taking the reins of Kingswood’s UK business was, and remains, to create a leading financial advisory and investment management business and this transaction is a big step towards that goal.

“In the Iboss Group, Chris Metcalfe has built a fantastic brand with a superb investment track record. From our first meeting, we knew that blending the Iboss Group with Kingswood would create something special in the sector, harnessing the Iboss Group’s investment record, product range and open market IFA distribution with Kingswood’s existing discretionary investment expertise and rapidly growing financial planning businesses.”

The purchase will see the Iboss brand retained, with Chris Metcalfe and his investment team remaining at the helm of the investment strategy, implementation and servicing.

Lawrence added: “With Kingswood’s resources we aim to accelerate growth and create greater reach into the IFA sector. 

“The transaction also allows Kingswood to leverage its successful track record in buying and integrating financial planning businesses by providing the capital to purchase financial planning businesses using Iboss that wish to exit but don’t wish to risk the investment solution provided to their clients.”

This purchase comes after a double purchase by Kingswood last week of Kent-based Smythe and Walter Limited and north east based IFA Money Matters

Lawrence said: “We remain committed to our growth strategy within the UK and internationally. This is our fourth acquisition of 2021, and we have a strong pipeline of high-quality UK opportunities under negotiation, four of which are in the exclusive due diligence stage.”

In addition to recently announced deals, the acquisition of the Iboss Group increases Kingswood’s client facing advisory team to 80 people, UK funds under advice to £6.3bn, and the number of active clients to over 15,900.

Iboss currently employs 29 people and has over 6,000 clients with £1.4bn of assets under management. At December 31, 2020, the group had net assets of £3.1m.

Chris Metcalfe, investment and managing director at Metnor, said: "We had several potential suitors, but none realised the intrinsic value of how we manage money and the attraction for advisers that comes with our industry-leading service standards and client communications.

“As part of the Kingswood Group, we will offer our new and existing Iboss users an exit strategy that will be one of the most attractive in the industry, something that adviser firms have been asking us to facilitate for some years now. 

“We are pleased to be able to deliver precisely what advisers have asked for. For many adviser firms, continuing the investment proposition and not disturbing the client is extremely important.”

sonia.rach@ft.com

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