Bellpenny has agreed to buy EFG Independent Financial Advisers Ltd to form a new independent advice arm.
The deal is Bellpenny’s first acquisition since October 2015.
The consolidator's acquisition of EFG IFA from EFG Private Bank brings 11 advisers with more than 800 active clients and £650m in funds under management, increasing Bellpenny's total to more than £3.5bn.
The new independent advice arm will be known as BIA Financial Planning.
Nigel Stockton, Bellpenny chief executive, said: “The acquisition of EFG IFA is a fantastic addition to the Bellpenny Group and brings with it a wealth of experience from the highly qualified staff.
“Our new independent advice service is another great example of the added value we are able to provide to clients, and the future of the Bellpenny service.
“The EFG IFA acquisition fits into our fewer, larger deals strategy and it's an exciting start to the year with much more to look forward to.”
BIA Financial Planning clients will continue to receive their existing services.
Peter London, EFG IFA executive chairman, said: “I am incredibly proud of the EFG IFA business that we have built over the last six years and we look forward to this continuing and expanding even further with the Bellpenny team.
“Bellpenny thought very hard about the structure of the deal to ensure that everything is set for the BIA business to grow strongly in the coming years.”
Bellpenny, which is the trading name of Capital Professional Ltd, is owned by investment company Oaktree Capital Management.
In 2015 it made a loss of £8.6m, increased from £5m in the previous year, but it received £20m after issuing shares.
damian.fantato@ft.com
