Kingswood completes purchase of Admiral Wealth Management

The AIM-traded firm said Admiral provides independent financial advice to individuals and corporates, primarily in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.

It currently employs seven people, including two advisers managing around £100m of assets under management on behalf of around 600 active clients.

As it had previously announced, Admiral was being acquired for £4m cash, payable over a two-year period.

A total of £2m would be paid now the acquisition was complete, and the balance would be paid on a deferred basis.

Admiral had the option to request the deferred consideration be paid in either cash or in ordinary shares of Kingswood.

The company said the cash consideration would be paid from funds received by Kingswood in December from the issue of convertible preference shares, under the terms of its convertible preference share subscription agreement with HSQ Investment - a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of funds managed by Pollen Street Capital.

“I am thrilled to announce the completion of our first acquisition under my leadership and look forward to welcoming Mike Biggin, Adam Harrison, and the Admiral team to Kingswood,” said Kingswood’s UK chief executive officer David Lawrence.

“Admiral is a highly regarded provider of financial advisory services in North Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, having consistently delivered a high-quality service to clients for over 30 years.”

Lawrence said the company remained “absolutely committed” to its stated growth strategy within the UK and internationally.

“Whilst this is our first acquisition of 2021, as reflected in our 2020 year end presentation in June we continue to make good progress on further acquisitions, eight of which are now in exclusive negotiation as we continue to grow our financial planning and investment management reach across the UK and internationally.”

At 1432 BST, shares in Kingswood Holdings were down 3.12% at 31p.