Financial Planning and wealth management group Shackleton has signed a deal to acquire the Hurst Point Group and jointly create a Financial Planning and investment company with £17.5bn in assets under advice and management.
Shackleton says the deal, for an undisclosed sum, is its largest acquisition to date and claims it will create one of Britain’s largest independent Financial Planning firms.
Shackleton will acquire Hurst Point’s Financial Planning and investment management businesses.
According to Shackleton, the merged business will have:
- £17.5bn in assets under advice/management*
- More than 44,000 clients
- 233 FCA authorised and regulated financial advisers and investment managers
- 38 offices in towns and cities across the country
- 850+ employees
*Source: Shackleton/Hurst Point
Following completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, Andrew Fisher and Paul Feeney will continue to serve as non-executive chairman and CEO of the combined business, respectively.
Andrew Westenberger, current CEO of Hurst Point, will join the Shackleton Executive Committee on completion of the deal.
Hurst Point’s existing majority shareholder, private equity firm Carlyle, will become a minority investor in Shackleton alongside funds managed by Lee Equity Partners LLC, which became Shackleton’s majority shareholder in November.
Andrew Fisher, non-executive chairman of Shackleton, said: “The acquisition of Hurst Point marks a key milestone in Shackleton’s mission to build the most trusted provider of financial advice in the country.”
“The significantly increased scale of the Shackleton Group resulting from this acquisition will enhance our ability to invest efficiently in technology, propositions, and regulatory and compliance capabilities, for the benefit of clients, employees and shareholders.”
Paul Feeney, CEO of Shackleton, said: “This acquisition is an unquestionably natural fit, given the clear alignment of cultures and values that exists between Shackleton and Hurst Point. The transaction also significantly expands our office network across the UK, enabling us to help even more people to achieve financial freedom.”
Andrew Westenberger, CEO of Hurst Point, said: “Through the bringing together of Shackleton and Hurst Point, our clients should benefit from lower costs and an ever-improving level of service; something that neither company would be able to do for their clients separately.”
Shackleton was advised by Evercore (M&A) and Proskauer Rose (legal). Hurst Point was advised by Rothschild & Co (M&A) and Linklaters (legal).
Hurst Point was founded in 2020 following the acquisition of Harwood Wealth Management (now Argentis). In 2021 it acquired Hawksmoor Investment Management and has completed more than 25 acquisitions of advice and investment management firms since then.
• Financial Planning Today Analysis: Today's deal announcement is another step towards the emergence of large Financial Planning firms, backed by private equity. It's become quite a crowded area with several players jockeying for size and multiple acquisitions along the way, driven by private equity money. Shackleton has grown very quickly thanks to an influx of new investment but there must ultimately be an assessment of synergies to provide the best returns for shareholders. Some consolidation is likely. The similarity between firms operating a Financial Planning model has helped these large firms merge and move forward quickly and there will no doubt likely be further acquisitions and mergers. With the recent acquisition of Evelyn Partners by NatWest it's clear that the largest financial services players are showing strong interest in the relatively small but influential Financial Planning sector. This will continue.