Chartered Financial Planning firm Skerritts says the deal, for an undisclosed sum, will boost its expansion plans in the South where it has acquired many firms in recent years.

The purchase of Mercier Allen and Associates brings in an additional £73 million of Assets Under Management to Skerritts.

Skerritts has a head office in Brighton and Hove with about 50 staff serving 35,000 clients.

In March 2021, UK private equity firm Sovereign Capital Partners invested £55m in Skerritts to fuel expansion.

Skerritts said the investment has enabled it to speed up its expansion plans and since the new investment Skerrits has acquired six firms.

In 2022, Skerritts completed four acquisitions, adding new offices in Kent, Hampshire and London and about £560 million of AUM.

In January this year, another acquisition was announced with the purchase of Kent-based Financial Planning Firm, Equinox Wealth Limited, which brought another £62 million of AUM.

Neil Mercier, director of Mercier Allen, said: “As the financial services industry has moved at a fast pace over the past few years, especially in areas such as technology and digital solutions, I have spent some considerable time looking thoroughly at potential companies that could complement us in these areas.

“I considered the options very carefully to ensure that our valued clients are well looked after going forward and after extensive research, it was obvious that Skerritts are the best choice for the safeguarding of our clients’ financial future.”

Richard Skerritt, CEO of Skerritts, said: “As part of our strategic plans to increase our presence in the South East, adding a high-quality firm such as Mercier Allen to the group enables us to increase our presence in Sussex and adds Neil and his staff to our great team of people. We very much look forward to working with them.”