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Kingswood to raise £6m from investors to pay debt
Acquisitive wealth manager and Financial Planner Kingswood is to raise a further £6m from investors to meet its debt obligations on previous acquisitions.
The company says the money will provide the capital to meet upcoming ‘deferred payment obligations’ on previous deals undertaken by the Company.
Kingswood, which recently lost its CEO, will aim to build a £6m debt facility with a repayment date of 29 October 2030 (or date of an exit or partial exit) and an interest rate of 12%, paid at maturity.
Kingswood will enter into the additional facility agreement with an affiliate of private equity firm HSQ Investment Limited.
Kingswood has expanded rapidly in recent times and has acquired over 20 firms, many of them Financial Planning businesses.
However in July David Lawrence, the CEO, quit the firm after overseeing much of the expansion. He has been replaced by ex-Positive Solutions CEO and Chartered Accountant Peter Coleman as interim CEO, subject to FCA approval.
A search is under way for a permanent replacement.
Mr Lawrence headed the company for four years and oversaw many acquisitions and integrations, growth in AUM, an expansion to approximately 20,000 clients and the integration of IBOSS. Recent results showed that group revenue was £86.2m, up 37.7% on last year, while operating profit was at £10.8m, up 37.9%. Kingswood employs about 400 staff.
The company expects to report its interim results for the period to 30 June in late September.
In a statement today the company said Assets Under Management or Advice in the the UK & Ireland were approximately £9.8bn (31 December 2023: £9.4bn).
The company added, however, that the period had seen outflows in Assets under Advice in the UK following the departure of some wealth advisers.
Despite this the firm benefited from positive market performance and an increase in AuA in Ireland, which includes the acquisition of Baseplan in February. UK and Ireland Assets under management at 30 June 2024 were approximately £3.7bn (31 December 2023: £3.5bn).