Wealth management firm Mattioli Woods has agreed to the terms of a takeover offer from private equity investor Pollen Street Capital in a deal that values it at around £432million.
The deal will see investors in Mattioli Woods - which has an office on Queen's Terrace in Aberdeen - receive 804p for each share they hold and return the AIM-listed business to private ownership.
The deal includes Aberdeen-founded private equity business Maven Capital Partners, which was acquired by Mattioli Woods in 2021, and has a stake in a number of North-east companies.
The firm’s directors have recommended that shareholders vote through the deal at a general meeting.
Commenting on the acquisition, Anne Gunther, non-executive chair of Mattioli Woods said: "The Mattioli Woods board is pleased to announce its unanimous recommendation of this cash offer for Mattioli Woods, which not only delivers attractive value to shareholders in cash, allowing them to crystallise the value of their holdings, but also provides significant opportunity for clients, employees and wider stakeholders.
"Mattioli Woods is recognised as a leading advice-led wealth manager and enjoys both direct distribution through its consultancy team and intermediated distribution through certain third parties. I believe that Mattioli Woods' success is driven by an unwavering client-centric culture, the quality of its people and a responsibly integrated business model.
"The Mattioli Woods board recognises the opportunities that can be delivered under private ownership, including access to incremental growth capital and other resources to accelerate the development of its technology and pursue transformative acquisitions. Pollen Street Capital is highly supportive of the Mattioli Woods management team's strategy to create one of the UK's leading wealth managers with the critical scale and holistic product offering to address the changing financial planning and investment needs of its clients."
Commenting on the acquisition, Lindsey McMurray (pictured), Managing Partner of Pollen Street Capital said: "We are pleased to have reached agreement with the Mattioli Woods Board on the terms of Bidco's offer to Mattioli Woods Shareholders.
"We believe Mattioli Woods would benefit from a transition to private ownership, which would enable Mattioli Woods to accelerate its growth strategy and to capitalise on the market opportunity in UK wealth management. Pollen Street Capital has strong heritage in supporting companies in the financial and business services sectors and we are excited by the opportunity to work with Mattioli Woods in achieving our ambitious goals for the business."
In a recent trading update, Mattioli Woods said that revenues had risen by 8% to £59.1million for the six months to November 30. This included a 4% rise in organic growth, with a “robust” new business pipeline.
Total client assets dropped slightly from £15.3billion to £15.2billion – a reduction brought about by £155million of downward market movements.
Private equity firm Maven – now with 10 offices throughout the UK – has its roots in the North-east of Scotland and was launched in 2009 after a buyout of Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM)’s private equity business.
Co-founders included Jock Gardiner, a well-known face in North-east business circles, and Managing Partner Bill Nixon spent a large part of his career in the Granite City.