The City watchdog has given the green light to a deal which will see a private equity firm acquire the adviser platform Wealthtime.
Wealthtime announced today (November 4) that its acquisition by AnaCap Financial Partners had officially completed following approval by the Financial Conduct Authority.
It follows an eight-month wait for the deal, which was first announced in February this year.
Wealthtime said the buyout marked an “important milestone” on the platform’s journey to scale and differentiate itself facing the “dynamic advised platform market”.
The deal will facilitate the development of Wealthtime’s proprietary platform technology to improve the adviser experience and upgrade its functionality.
Wealthtime is marking the transition with a new look, positioning the business as an ambitious future-focused brand coupled with a proud heritage.
The platform said it would consider further possible acquisitions when “strategically beneficial”.
Commercial director of Wealthtime, Lucy Bristow, told FTAdviser in May that the firm hoped the acquisition would allow it to extend its reach into the adviser market.
She said: “Anacap has ambitious growth plans for us. We will target the adviser market by delivering excellent service and trying to attract more of our type of adviser — typically chartered, smaller wealth managers offering holistic advice to high-net worth clients.”
Wealthtime was founded by a number of former senior managers from James Hay in 2006 and launched the adviser platform in 2009.
Since then, it has grown organically to hold about £2.2bn assets under administration from a small number of “engaged and loyal” adviser firms.
The acquisition will see three new members join Wealthtime’s senior team and marks AnaCap’s first investment in the UK platform industry.
The trio set to join — Patrick Mill, incoming chief executive, Richard Denning, incoming chief operating officer, and Dominic Easton, incoming financial director — will join Ms Bristow to form the senior executive team.
imogen.tew@ft.com
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