Kingswood announces two acquisitions

by | Nov 3, 2022

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Kingswood Holdings Limited, the international, fully integrated wealth and investment management group, has announced the conditional acquisition of JCH Investment Management Limited a leading financial advice firm based in Lincoln. The Acquisition remains conditional on regulatory approval.

David Lawrence, Kingswood Group CEOcommented: “As well as announcing our completion of EBS today, I am delighted to announce the acquisition of JCH. Led by John Hebblethwaite, over many years JCH have built deep and enduring relationships with their clients and John and his team have a strong cultural alignment with Kingswood.

This Acquisition also allows us to consolidate our existing footprint in Lincolnshire and in doing so create a scalable hub from which to grow. On completion, the existing Kingswood team will co-locate with the JCH team in the JCH premises.

Kingswood continues to be an acquisitive business and has a further five purchase transactions under exclusive due diligence that we expect to close in the coming months.”

 
 

About JCH

JCH manages clients predominantly across the Lincolnshire area. The team have three advisers and seven employees in total managing over £105m of client assets over 240 clients.

In the year ending 31 July 2022, JCH generated revenue of £901k and profit before tax of £406k. The business will be acquired for total cash consideration of up to £3.5m, payable over a two-year period, £2.1m of which will be paid upon receipt of regulatory approval and the balance paid on a deferred basis which is subject to the achievement of pre-agreed performance targets.

 
 

Consideration

Upon regulatory approval for change of control being received, Kingswood will satisfy the consideration due to the shareholders of JCH through utilisation of its new funding facility announced on 17October 2022.

John Hebblethwaite from JCH commented: “We are delighted to be joining the Kingswood Group. This is an exciting development for the business, providing additional expertise, capability, and funding to continue our long-term track record of providing a best-in-class service for our clients. Kingswood shares our vision and beliefs of empowering its employees to provide excellent client service and this move gives the perfect outcome for both our clients and team for their future prosperity.

 
 

“I spent over two years investigating our options for a possible merger or sale, looking to find a ‘partner’ that would enable us to take all aspects of our business forward for the benefit of clients and staff alike. I am confident that Kingswood, as a major leading advice business, have the team and culture to be able to do this. We have been very impressed with the depth of quality in their management team.

“This is an important and positive step forward for JCH, as Kingswood share our fundamental ethos on providing an exemplary service to clients first and foremost.

“Their focus on service with great client outcomes, combined with understanding that our team are the heart of the business, giving them the opportunity to thrive and grow, made the decision to join them an easy one.”


Kingswood is also pleased to announce it has exchanged and completed on the acquisition of EBS, a financial planning firm based in Buckinghamshire.

David Lawrence: “I’m delighted by the ever expanding footprint of Kingswood into new counties, as well as announcing the acquisition of JCH today , the completion of EBS also takes us into a new county.  For over 30 years, EBS have a long-established presence in Buckinghamshire. They have a simple aim; to make complicated financial matters as simple as possible to help clients meet their goals and make their life as easy as possible. This mirrors what we strive for at Kingswood.

“We have a strong pipeline of activity, with a further five potential acquisitions in exclusive due diligence. Our near-term target is to build our UK AUA/M in excess of £10bn in the U.K. and £14bn globally.”

About EBS

EBS offers a wide range of financial planning services including; retirement planning, savings and investment  advice, protection, and inheritance tax planning. With three lead advisers and seven colleagues in total, EBS hold over £135m AUA.  In the year ending March 2022 EBS generated revenue of £1.56m and profit before tax of £806k.

The business will be acquired for total cash consideration of up to £5.08m, payable over a five-year period. £2.75m will be paid at closing and the balance paid on a deferred basis.

Miles Burr, Director at EBS commented: “We are delighted to be joining Kingswood. We have invested a huge amount of time in carefully investigating our options for a possible sale, looking to find the most suitable ‘partner’ that would enable us to take our business forward in a way that benefits our clients and staff. Kingswood, as a leading advice and wealth management business, have the team, culture and resources to enable us to do this.

We have been very impressed with Kingswood’s proposition, their systems and senior management. They are a great fit for EBS and we firmly believe we will be able to achieve our ambition of delivering the best possible long-term outcomes for our business, staff and, most importantly, our clients.”

Consideration

Kingswood will satisfy the consideration due to the shareholders of EBS through a draw down of its new funding facility, as announced on 17 October 2022.

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