Kingswood Holdings Limited Kingswood to acquire Regency Investment Services (3648Z)

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RNS Number : 3648Z

Kingswood Holdings Limited

18 September 2020

The information communicated in this announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

Acquisition of Regency Investment Services

Kingswood Holdings Limited ("Kingswood") announces their agreement to acquire Regency Investment Services, a Surrey-based regional IFA platform in Surrey, adding further breadth and scale to distribution network which now includes 15 locations across the UK

The transaction boosts Kingswood's client facing advisory team to 67 people and increasing funds under advice/management to GBP5.0 billion from over 16,000 active clients

Kingswood Holdings Limited (AIM: KWG), the international, fully integrated wealth and investment management group, is pleased to announce it has agreed to acquire, subject to regulatory approval, Regency Investment Services Limited (Regency), a high-quality IFA business which operates from Egham, Surrey.

Gary Wilder, Group CEO at Kingswood , commented: "We look forward to welcoming Dominique Vinecombe and the Regency team to Kingswood. Dominique's grandfather founded the business 55 years ago, and we are honoured she has entrusted us to carry on the legacy of outstanding customer service for which the business is renowned. Dominique will continue with the business and we look forward to working with her to grow and expand the services offered to clients. There is a major opportunity over time to migrate existing and new clients to Kingwood's extensive and growing range of managed investment solutions on our DFM platform, underpinning the value of a fully integrated wealth and investment management business. We have a robust pipeline of further acquisition opportunities in the UK and US that we are reviewing; and negotiating exclusively with three transactions in the UK."

Regency Acquisition

Regency provides independent financial advice to individuals and corporates primarily in the Greater London area and currently employs 12 people including 6 IFAs advising/managing GBP 320 million AUA/AUM on behalf of circa 1,000 clients.

On receipt of regulatory approval, the business will be acquired for cash consideration of GBP3.45 million, payable over a 3-year period. GBP1.38m will be paid at closing and the balance paid on a deferred basis subject to Regency meeting pre-agreed recurring revenue and EBITDA hurdles over the 3-year year period. An additional deferred payment of maximum GBP1.2 million is potentially payable at the end of the 3-year period subject to achievement of an excess EBITDA target over the deferred period.

Regency is an established company founded by the current principal's grandfather in 1965. Dominique Vinecombe has continued her grandfather's legacy and supported by Alan Lander has grown the business across the Greater London area primarily through organic growth. In the twelve months to 31 January 2020 it delivered EBITDA of GBP0.55 million through strong and consistent revenue delivery and a keen focus on driving high levels of recurring revenue. As of 31 January 2020 it had total assets of GBP2.6m and net assets of GBP2.1m.

The company has a highly qualified and experienced team of financial advisers supported by a dedicated operational team. Regency's continued success is built around developing and maintaining long-term client relationships, making the team a perfect fit for Kingswood.

At completion, the acquisition will be funded by Kingswood's issue of new convertible preference shares, under the terms of its Convertible Preference Share subscription agreement with HSQ INVESTMENT LIMITED, a wholly owned indirect subsidiary of funds managed and/or advised by Pollen Street Capital Limited.

Patrick Goulding, Group CFO and Platform CEO , said: "We are delighted Dominique will remain with Kingswood and continue to focus on delivering exceptional quality service to Regency's client base. The Kingswood model is designed to free Dominique and other advisers to focus on their clients, and provide a centralised, efficient support infrastructure to manage the routine but time consuming tasks required across compliance, finance, human resources, risk and technology."

For further details, please contact:

 
 Kingswood Holdings Limited                [phone] 
 Gary Wilder / Patrick Goulding            www.kingswood-group.com 
 
 Peel Hunt LLP (Nomad and Broker)         [phone] 
 James Britton / Rishi Shah 
 
 Greentarget (for Kingswood media)        [phone] 
  Jamie Brownlee / Alice Gasson / Ellie    [e-mail] 
  Basle 
 

Stand Agency (for Pollen Street media)

Cait Dacey

[phone]

[e-mail]

About Kingswood

Kingswood Holdings Limited (trading as Kingswood) is an AIM-listed (AIM: KWG) international fully integrated wealth management group, with around 16,000 active clients and circa GBP4.8 billion of Assets under Advice and Management. It has a growing network of offices in the UK including Abingdon, Beverley, Darlington, Derby, Grimsby, Hull, Lincoln, London, Maidstone, Newcastle, Sheffield (2), Worcester and York with offices in Johannesburg, South Africa and Atlanta, New York and San Diego in US.

Kingswood offers a range of trusted investment solutions to its clients, which range from private individuals to some of the UK's largest universities and institutions, including investment advice and management, personal and company pensions and wealth planning. Kingswood is focused on becoming a leading player in the wealth and investment management market through targeted acquisitions in the UK and US, creating a global business through strategic partnerships.

About Pollen Street Capital

Pollen Street Capital is an independent alternative asset investment management company focused on the financial and business services sectors across both private equity and credit strategies. The private equity strategy is focused on investing in lower middle market firms which have the capacity to become leaders in their field across Europe. Pollen Street have deployed over GBP1.2bn capital into this strategy over the last 14 years delivering strong returns throughout. It was established in 2013 and manages GBP2.8bn gross AUM on behalf of investors including leading pension funds, asset managers, banks and family offices from around the world. Pollen Street Capital has a team of 70+ professionals with offices in London and New York.

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September 18, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)