SIPPJul 23 2020

Curtis Banks buys rival and supplier for £53m

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Curtis Banks buys rival and supplier for £53m

Curtis Banks is to acquire rival self-invested personal pension (Sipp) provider Talbot and Muir and fintech firm Dunstan Thomas in a deal worth close to £53m.

Curtis Bank announced this morning (July 23) that it had entered into a trading agreement to acquire Talbot and Muir for up to £25.3m and Dunstan Thomas for up to £27.5m.

According to the provider, the acquisition of Talbot and Muir will add 7,000 pensions with assets under administration of £3.6bn, as well as existing IFA relationships.

Dunstan Thomas will support the delivery of Curtis Banks’ own technology strategy and “provides the group with access to a broader product and service offering for both its existing and future clients and other target markets.”

Will Self, chief executive officer of Curtis Banks, said technology was “under-utilised” in the Sipp market and the acquisition of Dunstan Thomas would help enable the providers’ future growth in this area.

Mr Self said: “We recently invested in a new digital platform, underpinning the launch of Your Future Sipp and by also bringing Dunstan Thomas into our group we’ll gain direct access to great technology to benefit our customers as well as fulfilling our diversified growth strategy.

“Dunstan Thomas is a leading fintech provider, and as our largest supplier we’ve worked with them for many years now. We see them as a core enabler for our future growth, delivering solutions that support advisers and their high net worth and mass affluent clients, both within our current market and more broadly to other associated markets while growing the support and solutions to other financial services providers.”

He added: “We continue to look for the right types of business to grow Curtis Banks in the right way. We identified Talbot and Muir as a good strategic fit and are pleased to have agreed terms to bring them into the Curtis Banks Group, further consolidating our market position as one of the largest UK providers of Sipps and Ssas.”

In a separate announcement this morning, the provider revealed an equity placing to raise £25m by issuing new shares at a price of 210p.

The acquisition of Talbot and Muir is conditional on completion of the placing whereas the acquisition of Dunstan Thomas is not.

Graham Muir, director of Talbot and Muir said the firm had already been considering a number of opportunities and it became clear that Curtis Banks was a good fit as it allowed the firm to keep its product range and Nottingham and Leeds presence.

Mr Muir said: “I have been impressed for many years by the drive and vision of Will Self and his colleagues and I feel that the Talbot and Muir business will fit well within the Curtis Banks Group.  

“We look forward to continuing to deliver the high quality Talbot and Muir service that has built our reputation over the last 27 years and to being part of the group.”

Meanwhile, Chris Read, chief executive officer of Dunstan Thomas, said the acquisition was a positive step and allowed the firms to create “a new larger entity in the market with new propositions to take advantage of the changing shape of the commercial and economic landscape”.

He added: “Over the years we have provided solutions to companies across the industry. Our product roadmaps have been crafted and developed with the cooperation and input from all of our users. We look forward to continuing to serve our clients with the best products and solutions with performance and integrity at heart.

“Curtis Banks is an ideal choice for us, as they are not only a key client but aspire to build on their traditional pensions background and deliver broader market capability in which technology is a central pillar. We are pleased that our technology will form the foundation for this strategy.”

amy.austin@ft.com

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