Kingswood Holdings has bought Eastleigh-based adviser firm Aim Independent, in a deal worth up to £3.6mn.
The deal will see Kingswood’s team increase to 94 people and its funds under management to £7.2bn from 19,300 active clients.
Aim was founded in 2000 and is run by Phil Watson, managing director and Andy Davies, director. It has three other advisers and six support colleagues.
The IFA provides financial advice to more than 750 clients, which are mainly based in Hampshire and hold £217mn assets under management.
Following regulatory approval, Kingswood will pay £3.6mn for the firm, payable over a two-year period, with £1.8mn paid at closing and the remaining paid on a deferred basis.
David Lawrence, UK chief executive officer at Kingswood, said: ''My ambition for Kingswood is to become a leading wealth management advisory and investment management business, breaking the £7bn AUA/M mark is a huge signal to that as we continue to grow our geographical footprint across the UK. Our acquisition of Aim will further expand that reach into a new county in the south."
He added: ''This is our fourth acquisition of 2022 and we continue to have a strong pipeline of high-quality UK opportunities under negotiation, three of which are in exclusive due diligence.
"Our next near-term target is to build our UK AUA/M to in excess of £10bn in the UK and £14bn globally and we have the balance sheet to do so.''
In the year ending July 31, 2021, Aim generated revenue of £1.2mn and profit before tax of £479,000.
Aim's Watson said: "We had two objectives we wanted to achieve when we began to search for a potential buyer, succession planning and economies of scale. With Kingswood we believe we have found the qualities of leadership, talent and knowledge to build on our reputation and create a stronger company with new pathways for growth.
“We are confident that we have made the right choice for both our colleagues and our clients for their future prosperity."
Earlier this month, Kingswood bought Essex-based Joseph R Lamb Independent Financial Advisers for £15.3mn and Rotherham-based Allotts Financial Services for up to £2.5mn.
In January, Kingswood purchased DJ Cooke Financial Planning for £1.5mn in its first deal of the year.
All the deals will be paid from funds recently received by Kingswood from the issue of £3mn in convertible preference shares.
This was the eleventh tranche of such shares issued as part of an £80m commitment made to Kingswood by investment management firm Pollen Street back in September 2019.
Kingswood's partnership with Pollen Street has to date provided growth equity of £77.4mn to support existing and future acquisitions.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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