Leading national wealth management firm Bellpenny announced today that it has exchanged contracts on the acquisition of EFG Independent Financial Advisers Ltd (EFG IFA), to form Bellpenny Group’s new independent advice arm, BIA Financial Planning. The deal is subject to change of control authorisation from the FCA.
Acquired from EFG Private Bank Limited for an undisclosed sum, EFG IFA was originally formed following the acquisition of Ashby London and Platts Flello. EFG IFA has offices in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and London and brings 11 highly professional advisers with over 800 active clients and in excess of £650 million funds under management (FUM), increasing Bellpenny’s total FUM to over £3.5bn.
BIA Financial Planning clients will continue to receive their existing services, along with the additional benefits from being a member of Bellpenny Group. BIA Financial Planning will continue to be an independent advice business.
It is a return to the acquisition trail for Bellpenny, who were advised by Quayle Munro and Soprano Consulting, and further evidence of the continued full support from its owner, Oaktree Capital Management, the leading investment company.
Nigel Stockton, Bellpenny CEO, said:
“The acquisition of EFG IFA is a fantastic addition to the Bellpenny Group and brings with it a wealth of experience from the highly qualified staff. Our new independent advice service is another great example of the added value we are able to provide to clients, and the future of the Bellpenny service. The EFG IFA acquisition fits into our fewer, larger deals strategy and it’s an exciting start to the year with much more to look forward to. We can’t wait to welcome our new team, well led by Peter London and John Male and, most importantly, all the clients to BIA Financial Planning.”
Peter London, EFG IFA Executive Chairman, said:
“I am incredibly proud of the EFG IFA business that we have built over the last six years and we look forward to this continuing and expanding even further with the Bellpenny team. Bellpenny thought very hard about the structure of the deal to ensure that everything is set for the BIA business to grow strongly in the coming years.”
John Male, EFG IFA Managing Director, said:
“We are looking forward to working with Nigel and the Bellpenny team as we want to grow the new BIA business even further. We were impressed by the Bellpenny offer as it enables us to continue to grow and build our business.”
Anthony Cooke-Yarborough, EFG Private Bank CEO, said:
“We are proud of the way in which EFG IFA has become a successful provider of independent advice. We believe the firm and its clients will prosper even more as part of a specialist financial advisory business and look forward to working with Bellpenny for a successful transition.”
