Fairstone has bought Devon-based IFA Sabre Financial, adding more than £200mn in funds under management to the group.
The deal expands Fairstone’s nationwide coverage and takes total FUM under the group’s umbrella to more than £13bn.
Sabre Financial was established in 1997 and specialises in pensions and investments.
As part of the deal, nine advisers and staff will join Fairstone Group as well as more than 800 clients.
Principals Stuart Read and Dale Came, decided to join Fairstone as they were looking to partner with a national chartered firm that would help them grow, while offering a whole of market independent choice for their clients.
Read said: “After discussing our objectives with a number of organisations, we felt that Fairstone was the only firm who genuinely understood the reasons behind our success as a financial planning business, and crucially, would support our growth.
“The proposition really appealed as our clients do not have higher costs forced upon them nor are they obligated to move into different investment solutions.
“This allows us to strive for excellence in the advice market while remaining independent.”
Sabre Financial joined Fairstone’s downstream buy out (DBO) acquisition model in September 2020 and grew during their integration process.
The firm delivered an 18 per cent increase in revenue and a 6 per cent increase in client numbers.
Fairstone chief executive officer Lee Hartley, said: “Sabre Financial struck us as a dynamic firm, with an excellent reputation for serving clients over many years, making a great addition to the Fairstone family.
“Bringing Sabre into the group extends our nationwide footprint and the pace of their growth to date demonstrates their alignment with our model. We want to partner with ambitious firms and support their continued development, delivering long-term organic growth.”
Sabre Financial will receive ongoing support to grow further and additional opportunities to create long-term value, including a secondary capital event, through Fairstone’s five layered proposition, which provides the potential for firms to double the market value of their business.
“In this climate in particular, it is essential for IFA businesses that are looking to sell to focus on protecting the value of their business to offset the impact of headwinds and uncertainties in the market,” Hartley said.
“Our DBO model offers a proven platform to do this, as we act as an investment partner for businesses, providing the centralised resource, technology and capital to support sustainable growth ahead of a sale, making a real impact on profits and valuation even in unfavourable market conditions.”
Earlier this year, Fairstone entered the Irish market as it bought Dublin-based Pax Financial, adding €200mn (£174.8mn) in assets under management.
In May, it purchased Cumbria-based IFA Financial Concepts, adding more than £135mn to its funds under management.
Prior to that, it marked its 50th acquisition with its purchase of Sidmouth-based East Devon Associates for an undisclosed sum.
