Fairstone Announce Acquisition of Sovereign

Fairstone, one of the UK’s largest Chartered financial planning firms, today announces the acquisition of South West-based Sovereign Wealth Management, marking another significant step forward in the firm’s measured growth plan.

This acquisition by the full-service wealth management house, further highlights the strength of Fairstone’s unique proprietary Downstream Buy Out (DBO) acquisition model which integrates ambitious IFA firms into the group, typically over a two-year period, prior to final acquisition.

Significantly, the vast majority of companies that have successfully reached ultimate acquisition stage demonstrate continued organic growth and a higher valuation than expected on purchase. Last month, Fairstone published their full earn-out data of all firms acquired to date which showed an average of 111% across its entire portfolio of acquisitions, with one in six acquisitions receiving more than 135% and crucially none receiving less than 100% of their cash consideration.

Sovereign Wealth Management, which has offices in Bath and Bristol, is a whole-of-market advice firm specialising in the management of investment and retirement portfolios.

The acquisition brings 1,500 clients into the group together with Sovereign’s eight advisers and one support staff. The acquisition also secures gross fee income of £1.25m for Fairstone.

Commenting on the deal, Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone, said: “We are delighted to complete the final acquisition of Sovereign Wealth Management, having worked hand-in-hand with them throughout the integration phase.

“The team are a strong cultural fit for Fairstone, with high quality individuals who really care and put clients at the heart of what they do.

“We work hard to ensure our proposition gives firms the framework they need to significantly grow their businesses, without compromising on client service or independence, and Sovereign has shared our appetite to grow and develop.

“Finalising this deal with Sovereign marks a very valued addition to our group.”

Company principal at Sovereign, Marcus Harris, said: “I am pleased to have integrated the company with such a forward-thinking and client-focussed firm as Fairstone.

“We look forward to continuing to deliver first-class service to our clients as part of the Fairstone family.”

Further consolidating Fairstone’s measured growth plan, in 2020 nine firms have joined its unique DBO programme, which marks the start of their phased pre-acquisition process.

Lee Hartley added: “Our unique DBO model is continuing to yield impressive results and is attracting a series of extremely high-quality firms into our fold. I am proud to say that Fairstone remains in a superb position to deliver continued growth and excellent client satisfaction as we move into 2021 and beyond.”

Headquartered in Newcastle, Fairstone is the number one ranked wealth management firm on Trustpilot* with over 69,000 clients and operates nationally across 42 locations.