AJ Bell sells non-core pensions business for £25m
AJ Bell has agreed to sell its Platinum Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPP) and SSAS business to InvestAcc Group for £25m.
The deal price consists of £18.5 million upon completion; made up of £17.5 million in cash and £1.0 million in new InvestAcc shares, and £6.5 million of deferred consideration in cash, subject to certain conditions.
AJ Bell Platinum has 3,600 customers with £3.2 billion of assets under administration which will transfer to InvestAcc on completion. This is expected to happen in the second half of 2025. In the year ended 30 September 2024, AJ Bell Platinum contributed £10.0 million to non-platform revenue.
Michael Summersgill, Chief Executive Officer at AJ Bell, commented: “Our strategy is to provide easy-to-use, low-cost platform propositions using a single, scalable operating model to capitalise on the significant long-term growth opportunity in the UK investment platform market. The sale simplifies our business model, enabling the management team to focus on AJ Bell’s core platform business, in line with our growth strategy across both the advised and direct-to-consumer market segments.”
“AJ Bell Platinum customers will continue to receive great service as part of InvestAcc, an award-winning provider of bespoke SIPP and SSAS services, with a track record of delivering excellent customer service.”
Will Self, Chief Executive Officer at Carlisle-based InvestAcc, said: “We are excited to announce the acquisition of the Platinum SIPP and SSAS business from AJ Bell. Its exceptional service proposition and high-quality products make it a perfect strategic fit for InvestAcc.
“We look forward to collaborating with AJ Bell to ensure a seamless migration and integration of AJ Bell Platinum customers and staff.”
InvestAcc operates the Minerva SIPP which customers can use in order to invest in commercial property and land, and a combination of “permitted investments” including deposit accounts, DFM, open market platform/wrap accounts, stockbroker accounts and trustee investment plans.
Fenchurch Advisory Partners is acting as financial adviser to AJ Bell. On the legal side Addleshaw Goddard advised on the sale was led by partner Mark Hallam who heads up Financial Services M&A for the firm and included Roger Hart, Edward Ainscoe, Aidan Barry, Charlotte Bontoft, Ozayr Makda and James Sherwin.
