Private equity firm Pollen Street Capital has agreed to buy Mattioli Woods as part of a £432mn deal which would take the listed company private.

The offer values Mattioli Woods at 804p a share, which represents a premium of 34% on the closing price of 600p a share on 7 March.

Mattioli Woods has £15bn in assets under management, including in fund arm Amati, and 20,000 clients.

Mattioli Woods said it will recommend unanimously for its shareholders to vote in favour of the deal. Shareholders include Octopus Investments, Liontrust Investment and Investec Wealth and Investment.

Pollen Street believes the acquisition will provide Mattioli Woods and its management team the flexibility to take longer-term decisions to maximise the growth potential of the business, continuing to invest in capabilities and client propositions, while also providing strategic support to develop new growth areas and operational expertise to drive greater efficiency.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Ian Mattioli MBE, the CEO of Mattioli Woods, said:

“Since our admission to AIM in 2005, we have seen significant expansion in both the size and nature of our business, integrating asset management, financial planning and employee benefit services to serve personal and corporate clients throughout the UK.

“We have a strong track record of combining like-minded businesses that share the same culture and ethos of putting clients first. The team at Pollen Street share our passion for delivering exceptional client outcomes and have demonstrated their ability to partner with entrepreneurial financial services business. I believe that with Pollen Street’s support and access to capital we can accelerate the delivery of our strategy and provide our clients with the proactive advice and bespoke investment solutions they require.”

Commenting on the Acquisition, Anne Gunther, non-executive chair of Mattioli Woods said:

“The Mattioli Woods Board is pleased to announce its unanimous recommendation of this cash offer for Mattioli Woods, which not only delivers attractive value to Mattioli Woods shareholders in cash, allowing them to crystallise the value of their holdings, but also provides significant opportunity for clients, employees and wider stakeholders. Mattioli Woods is recognised as a leading advice-led wealth manager, and enjoys both direct distribution through its consultancy team and intermediated distribution through certain third parties. I believe that Mattioli Woods’ success is driven by an unwavering client-centric culture, the quality of its people and a responsibly integrated business model. The Mattioli Woods Board recognises the opportunities that can be delivered under private ownership, including access to incremental growth capital and other resources to accelerate the development of its technology and pursue transformative acquisitions. Pollen Street is highly supportive of the Mattioli Woods management team’s strategy to create one of the UK’s leading wealth managers with the critical scale and holistic product offering to address the changing financial planning and investment needs of its clients.”

Commenting on the Acquisition, Lindsey McMurray, Managing Partner of Pollen Street said:

“We are pleased to have reached agreement with the board of Mattioli Woods on the terms of Bidco’s offer to Mattioli Woods Shareholders. We believe Mattioli Woods would benefit from a transition to private ownership, which would enable Mattioli Woods to accelerate its growth strategy and to capitalise on the market opportunity in UK wealth management. Pollen Street has strong heritage in supporting companies in the financial and business services sectors and we are excited by the opportunity to work with Mattioli Woods in achieving our ambitious goals for the business.”

 

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