Rathbones has bought one of Scotland's largest wealth management firms in a deal that will boost its assets by almost a fifth.
The City wealth firm is spending £105m to buy Speirs and Jeffrey, in a £79m cash deal with the remainder coming from the issuing of new Rathbone shares to be owned by existing Speirs and Jeffrey shareholders, who will be locked into an agreement not to sell the shares for up to three years.
All of the current shareholders of Speirs and Jeffrey work in the business, and will transfer to Rathbones, with the firm’s chief executive Russell Crichton becoming head of Rathbones Scottish business.
All other Speirs and Jeffrey employees will transfer to the new business and integrate with existing Rathbones staff at the firm’s Glasgow office.
Philip Howell, chief executive of Rathbones, said: “Speirs & Jeffrey represents an ideal strategic, professional and geographic fit with Rathbones and we look forward to working together both to develop our business in Scotland and deliver compelling returns for our shareholders.
"Key to our combined future success will be the principle of putting clients at the forefront of what we do, and we will remain committed to this as we welcome Speirs & Jeffrey into the Group."
As part of its plan to fund the deal, Rathbones is issuing new shares on the London Stock Exchange to raise £60m.
The shares are being sold to the market at £25 each.
David.Thorpe@ft.com
