Multi-million pound deal to acquire independent financial advisory firm

A Hull-headquartered independent financial advisory business has been acquired by a listed group in a deal worth £17.8m.

Sterling Trust Financial Consulting, which also has satellite offices in Darlington, Newcastle, Sheffield & York, was acquired by integrated wealth and investment management group Kingswood Holdings.

Sterling Trust is led by Jeff Grantham and provides independent financial advice to individuals and corporates. It employs 22 financial advisers advising/managing £1.2bn worth of assets and servicing over 5,000 clients.

Kingswood’s UK regional network expanded to 14 offices following the addition of Sterling Trust.

Kingswood described this as a “transformative transaction”, which has boosted its client facing advisory team to 62 people, while increasing funds under advice/management to £4.8bn from around 16,000 active clients.

Buzz West, Kingswood Chairman, said: “Despite the [COVID-19] restrictions, we are delighted to complete the Sterling Trust acquisition and welcome Jeff Grantham and his team to the Kingswood family. They will be a magnificent addition to our business.”

Patrick Goulding, Kingswood Group CFO, said: “2019 saw significant investment in people and technology to re-position the business for growth.

“We now move forward with an aligned and expanded senior management team combining large firm experience and strong track records of success.

“Our financial strategy is underpinned by a robust and disciplined balance sheet, ensuring no deferred liabilities from acquisition activities remain uncovered from a funding perspective.”

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