Abrdn Share Discussion Threads

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 15:54

No I didn't I email him first told him what I thought.

[geckotheglorious] 02/12/2021 15:51

spud
Post 172
"At least you got a nice email from Richard to treasure Monty.....
spud"



Only reason I knew it was done and dusted :)

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 15:49

Let’s hope 399,999 decide to lol.

[spud] 02/12/2021 15:39

At least you got a nice email from Richard to treasure Monty.....

spud

[partenope] 02/12/2021 15:28

you can bet if the price in this trade sale is £1.5b then an IPO would be £2b. would you be happy then? :)

[spud] 02/12/2021 15:28

Don't be so bitter and twisted Monty! Embrace the inevitable and don't cut off yer nose to spite yer face - II/ABRDN won't miss those that decide to leave to a another/worse broker.

spud

[partenope] 02/12/2021 15:26

why? were you getting free shares? what usually happens in IPOs which include small investors? the price is inflated and the little guy gets...shafted.

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 15:11

Linton5
Agree well and truly shafted.

[linton5] 02/12/2021 14:37

Yes Richard Wilson said ipo coming early this year for ii 🪓🤡 long term members shafted of ii

[partenope] 02/12/2021 14:21

"abdn is paying roughly nine times Interactive Investor’s projected revenue, according to estimates by broker Numis. That compares to current valuations of 12 times for market leader Hargreaves Lansdown and 11 times for AJ Bell." - FT

[cfro] 02/12/2021 14:05

Make that 399,998 LOl Montyhedge.

Very disappointed in JC Flowers - but there again it just shows what PE is all about.

If II had gone ahead with the IPO, and the way they are growing fast, it wouldnt have taken them many short years to be on a level market cap with HL.
If JC Flowers then had chosen to stay put they may well go on to make four times more plus dividends.

[partenope] 02/12/2021 14:04

copied you CWA and decided to buy in two tranches. in this morning @2.345 - very surprised to see the graph when i checked in just now. can't understand the reaction really. the shares went up when it was first made public that abdn were interested in II, the price agreed is as advertised - $2bn/£1.5bn. now totally unsure whether to buy more or wait for it to settle... :)

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 13:54

It not the charges, it the fact we were hoping for an IPO, just for me it's the principal of being sold to Abdn without been giving a chance to participate in IPO, ii have 400,000 clients, well 399,999 now. Would be funny if the others thought like me.

[gateside] 02/12/2021 13:51

Same here, nothing against AJ Bell, I have my wife's SIPP with them.Just feel ii are better and I prefer their pricing structure.

[cwa1] 02/12/2021 13:41

I've nothing against AJB, they do a decent job. But I find ii marginally better on the whole. I use both but wouldn't swap from ii to AJB so, as Gateside says, be sure you know what you want if you do swap!

[gateside] 02/12/2021 13:30

Monty... ii are better than AJ Bell. Be careful who you change to.

[chinese investor] 02/12/2021 13:19

Annual Dividend is 14.6p.

Current Yield is 14.6/227 = 6.43%.

[cwa1] 02/12/2021 13:02

Sod it. Had a small top up. Hopefully I can burn the dividends to keep me warm :-)

[cwa1] 02/12/2021 13:01

Slight price overreaction? Tempted by a few more at 230p. Was wrong the last time though :-)

[geckotheglorious] 02/12/2021 12:05

Deal with ABRDN is done and dusted.

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 12:02

Yes lot thinking like you, it's the principle for me ii I thought IPO, give clients a chance to participate, now we been sold to Aberdeen, well not me.

[skinny] 02/12/2021 11:49

The boxed version :-)




Proposed acquisition of interactive investor Limited

abrdn announces plans to acquire 100 per cent. of the UK's leading subscription-based investment platform interactive investor for GBP1.49 billion. abrdn and interactive investor have a shared vision of the growth and development of the wealth market and a commitment to being the customer champion. This acquisition will significantly enhance our presence and growth opportunities within a fast-growing and attractive market.

Stephen Bird, Chief Executive Officer of abrdn plc commented:

"This is a unique opportunity and a transformative step in delivering our growth strategy. interactive investor is the UK's number one subscription-based investing platform with a powerful reputation as a consumer champion. abrdn's scale, resources, and shared vision will enable interactive investor to grow confidently and expand its leadership position in the UK's attractive savings and wealth market. I am delighted that Richard Wilson and his team will continue to lead interactive investor."

Richard Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of interactive investor Limited commented:

"This is an exciting new chapter in our history and means that we can focus exclusively on serving those who matter most: our customers. We will have access to abrdn's additional capabilities across research, advice and wealth management services, and we will benefit from being part of one of Europe's largest investment and wealth management firms, with a vision and values closely aligned to our own.

Our management will remain the same, and the same extraordinary team will continually develop our service and technology, while maintaining our subscription pricing, our whole of market choice and the same campaigning spirit and editorial independence."

-- abrdn has agreed to acquire 100 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the holding company of interactive investor Limited ("interactive investor") from its shareholders, including J.C. Flowers IV L.P. (a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co.) and key members of interactive investor's management, for total consideration of GBP1.49 billion [1] .

-- Completion of the Acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions including regulatory consents and abrdn Shareholder approval.

-- interactive investor is the leading subscription-based platform ([2]) within the high-growth UK direct investing market, with over 400,000 customers ([3]) and AUA of approximately GBP55 billion ([4]) . The UK direct investing market benefits from accelerating demographic and structural market trends. In combination, the high-tech, high-touch models of interactive investor and abrdn can enable clients to become better investors and create more opportunities for their financially secure futures.

-- The Acquisition is a material step in our building of a leadership position in the personal wealth market, with AUMA in the Personal vector increasing nearly fivefold to GBP69 billion [5] on a pro forma basis.

-- abrdn considers the investment choices, flexibility and fixed fee pricing model that interactive investor offers customers, and its ethos as a consumer champion, to positively differentiate it in the market. abrdn is therefore committed to interactive investor's standalone open-architecture, subscription-based revenue model for the long-term.

-- As part of the Acquisition, Richard Wilson, CEO of interactive investor will join abrdn and continue to lead interactive investor, which will operate as a standalone business within abrdn's Personal vector.

-- interactive investor has grown rapidly, attracting high-value customers and is expected to continue to deliver a strong profile of growth and efficiency. The Acquisition is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [6] in the first full financial year following Completion.

-- The Acquisition will be funded in cash from abrdn's capital resources. Following the Acquisition, abrdn's capital position will remain strong with an indicative pro forma regulatory capital surplus (post IFPR) of c.GBP0.5 billion and in addition c.GBP2.5 billion of value from our listed investments [7] . We intend to issue Additional Tier 1 debt of c.GBP200 million to optimise our capital structure.

Strategic rationale for the Acquisition

Acquisition achieves scale in the high-growth direct investing market, accessing new customer segments and capabilities

-- Growing our Personal vector and expanding its capabilities and scale is a clear strategic priority for abrdn. The current focus of our Personal vector on financial planning and discretionary investment management will be transformed by combining with the high-tech model of interactive investor enabling us to meet clients' financial needs throughout their lives. Following the Acquisition, our Personal vector will have GBP69 billion of AUMA [8] on a pro forma basis and the share of abrdn Group fee based revenue [9] from Personal will increase from 6 per cent. [10] to 13 per cent. [11]

-- The direct investing market has grown at c.15 per cent. [12] compound historically and is expected to continue growing at a similar rate in the future driven by accelerating demographic and structural market trends. These include the democratisation of wealth, increased digitalisation of services, better value for money propositions, substantial inter-generational wealth transfers and the growing importance of a dynamic offering to address changing client behaviours and needs over time.

interactive investor is the UK's leading subscription-based direct investing platform and consumer champion

-- interactive investor is the leading subscription-based direct investing platform in the UK, with over 400,000 customers, and a meaningful proportion of high-value customers based on AUA per customer. Its open-architecture, digitally-enabled, data-centric model and technology platform drives strong customer engagement, activity and acquisition, through data analytics, customer personalisation and high user functionality.

-- This has enabled interactive investor to build growth momentum, with net flows of GBP5.5 billion ([13]) , c.17 per cent. of opening AUA, and increasing trading volumes of c.21,700 daily average retail trades over the twelve month period to 30 June 2021, which compares to c.8,700 over the twelve month period to 31 December 2019. Total AUA has increased 55 per cent. compound over the period between 31 December 2018 to 30 June 2021.

-- interactive investor is focused on continuing to deliver enhanced user experience for its customers following the successful roll out of a new mobile app and website and, most recently, the launch of 'Friends and Family', where existing customers can introduce multiple friends or family for only GBP5 per month.

-- interactive investor's platform is scalable with a large proportion of efficient straight-through processing, which allows significant scaling in customer numbers and activity. Strong operating leverage in the business has resulted in an improving margin [14] from 23 per cent. ([15]) to 34 per cent. ([16]) .

Transforms our Personal vector, significantly growing and diversifying revenue and profitability

-- Following the Acquisition, abrdn's Personal vector will have scale and relevance, with fee based revenue more than doubling from GBP83 million ([17]) to GBP199 million ([18]) on a pro forma basis. The vector's growth potential is expected to accelerate given the trends supporting strong growth prospects for the personal wealth market and direct investing specifically.

-- interactive investor's projected revenue growth complements abrdn's high single digit revenue growth target (three year CAGR to 2023), accelerating sustainable growth, and its operating margin is incremental to abrdn's existing target to exit 2023 at a cost/income ratio of c.70 per cent.

-- The Acquisition significantly expands our addressable market and creates a step change in our combined UK wealth offering. interactive investor expands abrdn's client reach, adding over 400,000 customers, allowing us to meet a broader range of client behaviours and needs.

Shared vision of a combined high-tech, high-touch model that meets clients' financial needs throughout their lives

-- interactive investor aligns closely with abrdn's client-led offering. Together with abrdn's established propositions in financial planning and discretionary investment management, the combined offering provides clients with trust, confidence and compelling value for clients at all stages of their financial journeys.

-- interactive investor complements recently added new digital capabilities, with Exo Investing, which allows easier investing for clients through AI digital investing capabilities, and Finimize, which offers digestible investing information and insights to a highly engaged investor community.

-- interactive investor will be able to leverage abrdn's trust, deep expertise in financial advice, meticulous research and global perspective. In combination, interactive investor's high-tech model broadens abrdn's existing personal wealth offerings, from self-directed investing to high-touch financial planning and discretionary investment management.

Optimal deployment of our capital to drive sustainable growth, returns, scale and shareholder value - the Acquisition is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [19]

-- The Acquisition creates a leading position for the Personal vector in the high-growth UK savings market, and is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [20] in the first full financial year following Completion.

-- The Acquisition will be funded in cash from abrdn's capital resources. Following the Acquisition, abrdn's capital position will remain strong with an indicative pro forma regulatory capital surplus (post IFPR) of c.GBP0.5 billion and in addition c.GBP2.5 billion in value from our listed investments [21] . We intend to issue Additional Tier 1 debt of c.GBP200 million to optimise our capital structure.

-- The Acquisition improves abrdn's dividend cover. The Board intends to maintain the total dividend at 14.6 pence per annum until it is covered at least 1.5 times by adjusted capital generation, at which point the Board will seek to grow the dividend in line with its assessment of the underlying medium term growth in profitability.

Further information on interactive investor

interactive investor is the leading subscription-based, digitally enabled, direct investing platform in the UK, founded in 1995. Its holding company is controlled by a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co., a leading private equity firm. interactive investor is the UK's largest fixed fee subscription-based investing platform, with GBP55 billion of AUA and over 400,000 customers ([22]) .

interactive investor has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. interactive investor completed the acquisition of TD Direct Investing in 2017, Alliance Trust Savings in 2019, and Share plc in 2020. The latest acquisition was the EQi book of customers, which completed in June 2021. interactive investor is based in Manchester, with offices in London and Leeds, and has c.777 employees [23] .

The interactive investor Group generated adjusted profit before tax of GBP45.5 million and reported profit before tax of GBP41.7 million for the year ended 2020 and had gross assets of GBP636 million as at 30 June 2021.

[montyhedge] 02/12/2021 11:47

Looks like Aberdeen have got ii let's hope customers leave in their droves including me. AJ Bell here I come.Disappointing from ii thought we would have a IPO.

[spud] 02/12/2021 11:47

abrdn PLC Acquisition

02/12/2021 10:40am
UK Regulatory (RNS & others)

Abrdn (LSE:ABDN)
Intraday Stock Chart

Thursday 2 December 2021
Click Here for more Abrdn Charts.
TIDMABDN

RNS Number : 3704U

abrdn PLC

02 December 2021

2 December 2021

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO, OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF THAT JURISDICTION

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

abrdn plc ("abrdn")

Proposed acquisition of interactive investor Limited

abrdn announces plans to acquire 100 per cent. of the UK's leading subscription-based investment platform interactive investor for GBP1.49 billion. abrdn and interactive investor have a shared vision of the growth and development of the wealth market and a commitment to being the customer champion. This acquisition will significantly enhance our presence and growth opportunities within a fast-growing and attractive market.

Stephen Bird, Chief Executive Officer of abrdn plc commented:

"This is a unique opportunity and a transformative step in delivering our growth strategy. interactive investor is the UK's number one subscription-based investing platform with a powerful reputation as a consumer champion. abrdn's scale, resources, and shared vision will enable interactive investor to grow confidently and expand its leadership position in the UK's attractive savings and wealth market. I am delighted that Richard Wilson and his team will continue to lead interactive investor."

Richard Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of interactive investor Limited commented:

"This is an exciting new chapter in our history and means that we can focus exclusively on serving those who matter most: our customers. We will have access to abrdn's additional capabilities across research, advice and wealth management services, and we will benefit from being part of one of Europe's largest investment and wealth management firms, with a vision and values closely aligned to our own.

Our management will remain the same, and the same extraordinary team will continually develop our service and technology, while maintaining our subscription pricing, our whole of market choice and the same campaigning spirit and editorial independence."

-- abrdn has agreed to acquire 100 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the holding company of interactive investor Limited ("interactive investor") from its shareholders, including J.C. Flowers IV L.P. (a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co.) and key members of interactive investor's management, for total consideration of GBP1.49 billion [1] .

-- Completion of the Acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions including regulatory consents and abrdn Shareholder approval.

-- interactive investor is the leading subscription-based platform ([2]) within the high-growth UK direct investing market, with over 400,000 customers ([3]) and AUA of approximately GBP55 billion ([4]) . The UK direct investing market benefits from accelerating demographic and structural market trends. In combination, the high-tech, high-touch models of interactive investor and abrdn can enable clients to become better investors and create more opportunities for their financially secure futures.

-- The Acquisition is a material step in our building of a leadership position in the personal wealth market, with AUMA in the Personal vector increasing nearly fivefold to GBP69 billion [5] on a pro forma basis.

-- abrdn considers the investment choices, flexibility and fixed fee pricing model that interactive investor offers customers, and its ethos as a consumer champion, to positively differentiate it in the market. abrdn is therefore committed to interactive investor's standalone open-architecture, subscription-based revenue model for the long-term.

-- As part of the Acquisition, Richard Wilson, CEO of interactive investor will join abrdn and continue to lead interactive investor, which will operate as a standalone business within abrdn's Personal vector.

-- interactive investor has grown rapidly, attracting high-value customers and is expected to continue to deliver a strong profile of growth and efficiency. The Acquisition is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [6] in the first full financial year following Completion.

-- The Acquisition will be funded in cash from abrdn's capital resources. Following the Acquisition, abrdn's capital position will remain strong with an indicative pro forma regulatory capital surplus (post IFPR) of c.GBP0.5 billion and in addition c.GBP2.5 billion of value from our listed investments [7] . We intend to issue Additional Tier 1 debt of c.GBP200 million to optimise our capital structure.

Strategic rationale for the Acquisition

Acquisition achieves scale in the high-growth direct investing market, accessing new customer segments and capabilities

-- Growing our Personal vector and expanding its capabilities and scale is a clear strategic priority for abrdn. The current focus of our Personal vector on financial planning and discretionary investment management will be transformed by combining with the high-tech model of interactive investor enabling us to meet clients' financial needs throughout their lives. Following the Acquisition, our Personal vector will have GBP69 billion of AUMA [8] on a pro forma basis and the share of abrdn Group fee based revenue [9] from Personal will increase from 6 per cent. [10] to 13 per cent. [11]

-- The direct investing market has grown at c.15 per cent. [12] compound historically and is expected to continue growing at a similar rate in the future driven by accelerating demographic and structural market trends. These include the democratisation of wealth, increased digitalisation of services, better value for money propositions, substantial inter-generational wealth transfers and the growing importance of a dynamic offering to address changing client behaviours and needs over time.

interactive investor is the UK's leading subscription-based direct investing platform and consumer champion

-- interactive investor is the leading subscription-based direct investing platform in the UK, with over 400,000 customers, and a meaningful proportion of high-value customers based on AUA per customer. Its open-architecture, digitally-enabled, data-centric model and technology platform drives strong customer engagement, activity and acquisition, through data analytics, customer personalisation and high user functionality.

-- This has enabled interactive investor to build growth momentum, with net flows of GBP5.5 billion ([13]) , c.17 per cent. of opening AUA, and increasing trading volumes of c.21,700 daily average retail trades over the twelve month period to 30 June 2021, which compares to c.8,700 over the twelve month period to 31 December 2019. Total AUA has increased 55 per cent. compound over the period between 31 December 2018 to 30 June 2021.

-- interactive investor is focused on continuing to deliver enhanced user experience for its customers following the successful roll out of a new mobile app and website and, most recently, the launch of 'Friends and Family', where existing customers can introduce multiple friends or family for only GBP5 per month.

-- interactive investor's platform is scalable with a large proportion of efficient straight-through processing, which allows significant scaling in customer numbers and activity. Strong operating leverage in the business has resulted in an improving margin [14] from 23 per cent. ([15]) to 34 per cent. ([16]) .

Transforms our Personal vector, significantly growing and diversifying revenue and profitability

-- Following the Acquisition, abrdn's Personal vector will have scale and relevance, with fee based revenue more than doubling from GBP83 million ([17]) to GBP199 million ([18]) on a pro forma basis. The vector's growth potential is expected to accelerate given the trends supporting strong growth prospects for the personal wealth market and direct investing specifically.

-- interactive investor's projected revenue growth complements abrdn's high single digit revenue growth target (three year CAGR to 2023), accelerating sustainable growth, and its operating margin is incremental to abrdn's existing target to exit 2023 at a cost/income ratio of c.70 per cent.

-- The Acquisition significantly expands our addressable market and creates a step change in our combined UK wealth offering. interactive investor expands abrdn's client reach, adding over 400,000 customers, allowing us to meet a broader range of client behaviours and needs.

Shared vision of a combined high-tech, high-touch model that meets clients' financial needs throughout their lives

-- interactive investor aligns closely with abrdn's client-led offering. Together with abrdn's established propositions in financial planning and discretionary investment management, the combined offering provides clients with trust, confidence and compelling value for clients at all stages of their financial journeys.

-- interactive investor complements recently added new digital capabilities, with Exo Investing, which allows easier investing for clients through AI digital investing capabilities, and Finimize, which offers digestible investing information and insights to a highly engaged investor community.

-- interactive investor will be able to leverage abrdn's trust, deep expertise in financial advice, meticulous research and global perspective. In combination, interactive investor's high-tech model broadens abrdn's existing personal wealth offerings, from self-directed investing to high-touch financial planning and discretionary investment management.

Optimal deployment of our capital to drive sustainable growth, returns, scale and shareholder value - the Acquisition is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [19]

-- The Acquisition creates a leading position for the Personal vector in the high-growth UK savings market, and is expected to be double-digit earnings accretive [20] in the first full financial year following Completion.

-- The Acquisition will be funded in cash from abrdn's capital resources. Following the Acquisition, abrdn's capital position will remain strong with an indicative pro forma regulatory capital surplus (post IFPR) of c.GBP0.5 billion and in addition c.GBP2.5 billion in value from our listed investments [21] . We intend to issue Additional Tier 1 debt of c.GBP200 million to optimise our capital structure.

-- The Acquisition improves abrdn's dividend cover. The Board intends to maintain the total dividend at 14.6 pence per annum until it is covered at least 1.5 times by adjusted capital generation, at which point the Board will seek to grow the dividend in line with its assessment of the underlying medium term growth in profitability.

Further information on interactive investor

interactive investor is the leading subscription-based, digitally enabled, direct investing platform in the UK, founded in 1995. Its holding company is controlled by a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co., a leading private equity firm. interactive investor is the UK's largest fixed fee subscription-based investing platform, with GBP55 billion of AUA and over 400,000 customers ([22]) .

interactive investor has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. interactive investor completed the acquisition of TD Direct Investing in 2017, Alliance Trust Savings in 2019, and Share plc in 2020. The latest acquisition was the EQi book of customers, which completed in June 2021. interactive investor is based in Manchester, with offices in London and Leeds, and has c.777 employees [23] .

The interactive investor Group generated adjusted profit before tax of GBP45.5 million and reported profit before tax of GBP41.7 million for the year ended 2020 and had gross assets of GBP636 million as at 30 June 2021.

spud