Fairstone GroupJul 21 2021

Fairstone seals pre-buyout deal with two firms

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Fairstone seals pre-buyout deal with two firms

Yorkshire-based Imagine Financial Planning and Scotland-based Forbes Lawson Wealth Management have joined Fairstone's model, which sees the consolidator take a stake in an advice firm before integrating it typically over a two-year period and then purchasing it.

Alongside the clients, the deal will see four advisers and five support staff join the wider business as well as funds under management of over £200m.

Fairstone chief executive officer Lee Hartley said: “We are delighted to welcome Imagine Financial Planning and Forbes Lawson Wealth Management into our downstream buyout programme.

"The teams at Imagine Financial Planning and Forbes Lawson Wealth Management share our ambition and commitment to building quality long-term client relationships, making them an excellent fit for Fairstone."

He added: “Fairstone’s proposition gives firms the framework, funding and support they need to significantly grow their businesses, without compromising on client service or independence.

"We look forward to working with the teams at Imagine Financial Planning and Forbes Lawson Wealth Management through our DBO programme to optimise the growth of their businesses and support them to realise their full potential.”

Company principals at Forbes Lawson Wealth Management, Ian Robinson and Richard Macmillan, said being part of a larger organisation allowed them to address the challenges of dealing with increasing regulatory change, while at the same time continuing to deliver a first class service to their clients. 

Robinson said: “Fairstone is aligned with our ethics, ethos and client focus. This is a very positive step forward for our business, providing us with long-term stability in a rapidly changing marketplace which ensures that we can continue to deliver a great service to our clients as part of the Fairstone Group.

“We are pleased to have found an established firm with very similar standards to ours that will help us build and continue our high service levels.”

Imagine Financial Planning is based in Harrogate and Forbes Lawson Wealth Management is based in Aberdeen, with both firms specialising in pension planning and investment management.

Paul Woods, company principal at Imagine Financial Planning, said: “We have taken the decision to join Fairstone to be part of a bigger group that is committed to independent financial advice and first-class client service. Partnering with Fairstone will give us the opportunity to really take our business forward.”

Last month, Fairstone added a Nottingham-based financial planning firm James Ryan Thornhill to its DBO model, adding 1,000 clients to the group.

This year it finalised the purchase of Hammett and Petch Financial Planning which secured more than £60m in assets for the national wealth manager in its first deal of the year. 

The Berkshire-based firm first joined Fairstone via its downstream buy-out model in 2017 and added two advisers to the business. 

Following this, in March, the wealth manager acquired Glasgow-based Chartermarque.

By early December last year Fairstone had agreed its ninth deal of the year, incorporating Devon-based Sabre Financial via its acquisition model.

At that time, the wealth manager had added more than £1.3bn to its funds under management.

Hartley added: “We are always looking for strong, high quality businesses with ambitious development plans to join Fairstone. 

“The strength of our DBO programme is demonstrated in the fact that all the firms we have gone on to acquire have received at least 100 per cent of their premium sale value and many achieving much more, consolidating our position as a secure, stable and proven acquirer within the sector.”

Earlier this month, FTAdviser caught up with Hartley where he revealed the firm was eyeing deals of a larger nature and was in talks with three firms in the discretionary funds management space.

sonia.rach@ft.com

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