Advisory business snapped up by financial group

AFH Financial has bought a Yorkshire independent advisory company as part of a trio of acquisitions, costing a total of £1.9m.

Sheffield-based Johnson Birkett has been established for more than 20 years and will now become part of the AFH group, a wealth management group based in Worcestershire.

It was acquired alongside Granville Bates, based in the Cotswolds, and Cheshire’s G-Force Financial.

The deal marks an exit for the owners in all the businesses, who will retire including Jacqueline and Patrick Thompson, directors of Johnson Birkett.

Together, the acquisitions are expected to contribute around £500,000 of recurring revenue to the company.

Alan Hudson, group chief executive, said: “The acquisitions represent our eighth, ninth and tenth this year and demonstrate the increasing level of activity that we are seeing in the market. The client base reflects the continued national expansion of AFH and will be integrated in line with our established model.”

“The company continues to seek high quality businesses of all sizes that will embrace the AFH culture of providing exceptional value to our growing client base while providing attractive returns to our shareholders.”

AFH has assets under management of £2bn and listed on the AIM section of the London Stock Exchange in 2014.