Private equity firm Pollen Street Capital has agreed to buy Mattioli Woods as part of a £432mn deal which would take the listed company private.
Mattioli Woods has a client base of more than 20,000 wealth clients with more than £15bn of assets under management.
According to Pollen Street, transitioning to private ownership would allow Mattioli Woods to accelerate its growth strategy and to capitalise on the market opportunity in UK wealth management
Mattioli Woods was launched in 1991 by Ian Mattioli, who remains the company's chief executive, and Bob Woods, who was chairman until he stepped down from the board in 2016.
The company floated on the Aim in 2005 and now employs 900 people including 138 advisers.
The acquisition will be implemented “by way of a scheme of arrangement” which will be effective by the second or third quarter of this year, the firm reported.
It prices Mattioli Woods at £8.04 a share which is a premium on its share price at close yesterday, which was £5.95 a share.
Mattioli Woods said it will recommend unanimously for its shareholders to vote in favour of the deal.
Shareholders include Octopus Investments, Liontrust Investment and Investec Wealth and Investment.
Mattioli said: “Since our admission to Aim in 2005, we have seen significant expansion in both the size and nature of our business, integrating asset management, financial planning and employee benefit services to serve personal and corporate clients throughout the UK.
“I believe that with Pollen Street’s support and access to capital we can accelerate the delivery of our strategy and provide our clients with the proactive advice and bespoke investment solutions they require."
In 2019, Pollen Street snapped up Kingswood Holdings providing the wealth manager with £80mn to fund its pipeline of acquisitions.
Lindsey McMurray, managing partner of Pollen Street, said: "Pollen Street has strong heritage in supporting companies in the financial and business services sectors and we are excited by the opportunity to work with Mattioli Woods in achieving our ambitious goals for the business."
alina.khan@ft.com
