M&A-hungry IFA reaps benefits of buyout scheme

It has now made seven acquisitions this year

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Fairstone Group has consolidated its presence in the north west of England with the acquisition of Octagon Wealth Management.

Octagon specialises in the management of investment and retirement portfolios and is based in Burscough, west Lancashire.

The deal brings an additional 800 clients into the group together with Octagon’s four advisers and five support staff.

It also increases gross fee income by £1.1m ($1.41m, €1.28m), as well as funds under management by more than £150m.

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Framework

This is the firm’s seventh M&A deal in 2019 via its downstream buy out (DBO) model, which integrates financial advisory businesses into the group.

It recently bought pension planning and investment management specialists Lofthouse Gate for an undisclosed sum.

Lee Hartley, chief executive of Fairstone, said: “At Fairstone, we work hard to ensure our proposition gives firms the framework they need to significantly grow their businesses, without compromising on client service or independence.

“Finalising this deal with Octagon brings another valued business into Fairstone and continues our excellent growth plan for 2019.”

The firm is continuing to utilise its DBO scheme, but rival advisory business AFH recently announced that it was to stop buying firms and focus on organic growth.

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