Harwood Wealth buys Berkshire-based Fund Management for £1.13m

AIM-listed Harwood Wealth Management has bought Berkshire-based independent financial advisory firm Fund Management Limited (FM), jointly owned by Iain and Diana Head, for £1.13m.

The financial planning and discretionary wealth management business said the deal, which has been approved by the FCA, enhances its already-established and growing presence in Berkshire and the surrounding counties.

FM will continue to operate as a standalone brand and will benefit from the group's processes, technology and investment strategies, while director Ian Head will stay on as financial adviser.

The initial cash consideration of £566,100 will be satisfied through the company's existing cash resources, while the deferred consideration of the same amount will be payable in two tranches over the next 24 months, subject to some performance criteria.

Non-executive chairman Peter Mann said: "It is pleasing to be able to announce another meaningful acquisition by the group so soon after we announced the acquisition of the assets from Plan 65 Limited. As we reported at the time of our final results earlier in the year, we are making strong progress both organically and through our long-established strategy of making good quality acquisitions and, if anything, the current market dynamics are only likely to improve in this respect.

"We are delighted to be welcoming FM, and in particular, Ian and Diana and FM's valued client base, to the group as we further bolster our presence in the South East. I am confident that they will all experience the benefit of our best in class processes, technology and investment strategies in the very near future."

At 300 BST, the shares were down 3.2% to 150p.