Interactive Investor is to acquire the direct-to-consumer retail customer book from Equinity for £48.5m.
The deal will increase the company’s UK platform market share with assets under administration expected to increase from £45bn to £50bn and customers numbers from 350,000 to 400,000.
II is the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform and prides itself on its flat fee provision.
The EQ retail investment book is a direct-to-consumer flat fee execution-only broking service operating under the EQi brand.
Richard Wilson, chief executive officer of II, said: "I look forward to welcoming EQi customers to the II platform, where we hope they will benefit from our no-nonsense fixed fee pricing, commitment to service and continuously developing technology and content.
“We feel privileged to serve EQi customers and, as a matter of course, if, six months from migration, we find that they would have paid less under EQi’s charging model, we will refund the difference.”
This is the latest deal for II, which completed the acquisition of TD Direct Investing in 2017, Alliance Trust Savings in 2019, and Share plc in 2020.
Wilson added: “This marks another important milestone in the II story, having brought together five established investment businesses within the last four years to create a single market-leading platform that offers the retail investor real choice and value.”
Aamina Zafar is a freelance reporter for FTAdviser
