A round-up of corporate and M&A deals that affected wealth managers and private banks in the EMEA region, and in certain other parts of the world.

This is a roundup of M&A deals affecting firms in the region. Note that at the point of writing the original stories, not all the transactions had won regulatory/shareholder approval, and commentary on these transactions may be subsequently updated. This summary is intended to provide a snapshot of transaction agreements and to signify the level of activity in the sector. For comments, corrections or feedback, email tom.burroughes@wealthbriefing.com

Evelyn Partners, Dart
Evelyn Partners completed its purchase of Dart Capital, a boutique wealth manager based in the City of London with £750 million ($955.4 million) (as of 30 August) assets under management and a team of 19 people. The acquisition for an undisclosed sum was given the blessing of the relevant regulators.

LGT
Liechtenstein-based LGT closed its acquisition of abrdn’s UK and Jersey discretionary fund management business. The deal added to the bank’s purchase of Vestra, the wealth business, in 2020. The bank closed the transaction after having secured the necessary regulatory clearance. LGT paid £140 million for the business. LGT Wealth Management, the UK-based wealth manager and part of LGT, assumed the client relationships of the acquired business along with about 140 staff. The transaction boosted LGT Wealth Management’s assets under management by around £6 billion to more than £28 billion, from £22 billion as at the end of June 2023.

BRI 
BRI Wealth Management acquired Worcestershire-based Singular Financial Planning, bringing an additional £30 million of assets under management. This followed BRI’s acquisition of Bransford Financial Planning in January which brought an additional £25 million of AuM.

atomos
UK wealth manager atomos acquired North London-based financial advice business Equanimity Independent Financial Advisers. Equanimity, which was founded in 2004 by chartered financial planner Helen Howcroft, offers advice to predominantly female, high net worth clients and business owners across financial planning, wealth management, and financial protection.

Hawksford
Global corporate, private client and fund services provider Hawksford acquired Healy Consultants. As well as bolstering Hawksford’s existing capability in Singapore, where Healy is based, the acquisition established a new presence in Dubai via Healy’s subsidiary operation. Established in 2003, privately-owned Healy specialises in supporting the set-up of businesses globally by offering a comprehensive range of services, from company registration and bank account opening to immigration, accounting, and tax filing. The acquisition of Healy forms part of Hawksford’s global expansion strategy supported by STAR Capital and follows on from the acquisition of ACT Management Services in the Netherlands earlier this year.

Taurus
Taurus SA, a major digital asset technology provider, has signed a global partnership agreement with Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank integrated Taurus’ technology solutions to establish digital asset custody and tokenization services. Founded in 2018, Taurus provides enterprise-grade digital asset infrastructure to issue, custody, and trade digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, tokenized assets, NFTs, and digital currencies. 

Nucleus
Edinburgh-based Nucleus Financial Platforms, a UK independent advisor platform, completed its acquisition of the Bristol-based Curtis Banks Group. Uniting Nucleus and Curtis Banks created a retirement-focused advisor platform with about £80 billion of assets under administration.  

Titan Wealth 
Titan Wealth, the UK wealth manager backed by Parthenon Capital Partners and Ares Management Holdings, bought Prism Financial Advice in the northeast of the UK. The acquisition increased Titan Wealth’s total assets under management/advice to more than £12.6 billion. Founded in 2005, Gateshead-based Prism has a team of 17 advisors, 25 support staff and more than £630 million in assets under advice. 

Titan also acquired Bristol-based Aspira Corporate Solutions, subject to regulatory approval. Established in 2000, Aspira Corporate Solutions is a player in the independent financial advisory and employee benefits sector.

Liberate Wealth
Liberate Wealth, a specialist financial planning and wealth management business, launched with the acquisition of Ebor Financial Planning, a Yorkshire-based financial planning firm. The transaction brought around £200 million in assets under management to the company, and offers life planning, advice and investment solutions to clients. 

Progeny
UK multi-disciplinary professional services firm, Progeny announced that it intended to acquire chartered financial advice firm, Carbon Financial Partners. The deal will add £600 million to Progeny’s AuM, the firm said. Carbon Financial Partners has a team of 45 staff across offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Perth. 

Evelyn Partners
UK firm Evelyn Partners acquired Creaseys Group, an accountancy and tax specialist firm in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Established over 150 years ago, the team of over 50 at Creaseys offers a range of assurance, advisory and tax services to both businesses and individuals, with a particular expertise in advising private equity executives on their tax affairs. In February 2023 Evelyn Partners acquired Leathers LLP which operates from offices in Newcastle and Harrogate and in April it acquired Cambridge-based firm the Ashcroft Partnership LLP.  

Evelyn Partners also acquired Harwood Hutton, a firm of accountants, tax advisors and business specialists with an office in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.  

Syz Capital 
Syz Capital, the boutique private markets investment specialist backed by Switzerland’s Syz family, made a strategic controlling investment in Capture Media, a Swiss business focused on digital media and analytics solutions. Syz is working alongside with Saturnus Capital to ramp up Capture Media’s offering in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland (“DACH”) region.  

As part of the transaction, Syz Capital acquired a majority controlling stake with operating partners Saturnus, while the founders of the business, Sandro Albin, Michel Lazecki and Franz d’Huc, reinvested and retained a significant minority share.

Canaccord Genuity Group
Through its wealth management business in the UK and Crown Dependencies (CGWM UK), Canadian financial services firm Canaccord Genuity Group agreed on a share purchase agreement to acquire Glasgow-based Intelligent Capital, a financial planning business. The acquisition is expected to be completed by 31 March 2024. Once completed, the professionals and clients of Intelligent Capital will operate under the Adam & Company brand, which represents the Scottish operating business of CGWM UK.

Absa Group 
Absa Group, an African financial services firm that used to be part of Barclays, bought the wealth offerings, retail and business banking businesses in Mauritius of HSBC. The transaction included assets and liabilities tied to about 38,000 customers.

ZEDRA
ZEDRA, a global specialist in corporate and global expansion, active wealth, pensions and incentives services, and fund solutions, acquired LJ Fiduciary and Alvarium Private Office with offices in the Isle of Man, Geneva and the UK. The business was acquired from AITi Tiedemann Global, the multi-family office group recently created from a transatlantic merger. A total of 59 employees joined ZEDRA, taking its total payroll to more than 1,000 in 16 countries spanning Asia, Oceania, the Americas, and Europe.

Julius Baer
Julius Baer and Kairos’ co-shareholders agreed to sell 100 per cent of Kairos (by way of Kairos SGR) to Anima Holding SpA (Anima) – an Italy-based firm – for approximately €20 to €25 million ($22.07 to $27.5 million). Italian asset and wealth management company Kairos, which has AuM of around €4.5 billion, is part of Julius Baer Group – Kairos management has retained approximately 35 per cent interest since 2021. Julius Baer acquired Kairos from its previous equity partners as part of a staggered acquisition starting with the purchase of a minority stake of 19.9 per cent in 2013, taking over full ownership in 2018. In 2020, Julius Baer sold 30 per cent in Kairos to key executives of Kairos, followed by further participations in 2021.

Hawksford
Global corporate, private client, and fund services provider Hawksford agreed to acquire Paradigm Governance Partners, a Cayman Islands and US-based specialist governance and fund services company. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority. Geoff Ruddick and Nic Corsetti, partners at Paradigm, alongside Leo Kassam and Cary Marr, were due to lead Hawksford’s operations in the Cayman Islands and the US.

JTC
JTC agreed to acquire Blackheath Capital Management, a boutique asset management business based in the UK. Blackheath, which provides management and regulatory oversight services to investment funds and management company (ManCo) services, is an alternative investment fund manager (AIFM). The transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2024, subject to closing conditions and final regulatory approvals.

Eurobank Asset Management
Eurobank Asset Management MFMC, part of Greece’s Eurobank, bought a minority stake in Mintus Global, one of a number of platforms providing access to art and alternative assets. Eurobank is combining its expertise across alternatives with Mintus’ tech solutions offered through a fractionalised alternative asset platform operated by its UK-regulated subsidiary, Mintus Trading.

7IM
7IM, the UK investment management firm, bought London-based Amicus Wealth. Amicus Wealth, located in London’s City financial district, has more than 35 financial advisors who look after around 3,000 clients with total assets of about £1 billion.

Benchmark
UK-based independent financial advisor Benchmark acquired Champain Financial Services to bolster its coverage in the South and South-East. Champain – an appointed representative of Benchmark's advice network – has been using Benchmark’s technology, including the integrated practice management, platform and client portal, since 2011. Benchmark adds £111 million in client assets with this transaction.

Vistra 
Vistra Fund Management (VFM), a Luxembourg-based third-party alternative investment fund manager which is part of Vistra Group, acquired the Kroll (Luxembourg) Management Company. Kroll ManCo was rebranded to Vistra at a later date.

Close Brothers 
UK-based Close Brothers Asset Management (CBAM) agreed to acquire Dorset-based international financial advisor Bottriell Adams. Bottriell Adams was founded in 2004 and manages more than £220 million of assets for its high net worth client families and small businesses.

Edmond de Rothschild
Edmond de Rothschild agreed to sell its third-party asset servicing businesses in Luxembourg to Apex Group, the financial firm, for an undisclosed sum. Apex Group also acquired Edmond de Rothschild's fund administration, transfer agent and custody activities for its private equity and infrastructure funds.

Alpadis
Switzerland-headquartered Alpadis Group, which provides multi-jurisdictional corporate and fiduciary services, pushed into the Italian and South American market with its purchase of  EOS Trust and Consulting. The acquisition was pending approval from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority.

Leonteq
Leonteq, the Zurich-listed fintech, bought a 10 per cent stake in BX Swiss, a Swiss stock exchange for a “single-digit million amount.” The stake was purchased from the Boerse Stuttgart Group. 

Polen
Polen Capital took over the funds of UK-based Somerset Capital Management, which was wound down after suffering large redemptions and the loss of its biggest client, UK wealth manager St James's Place. Polen, which has had an emerging market offering since 2019, assumed responsibility for the London-based suite of equity funds, subject to regulatory approval.