Wealth manager and Financial Planning firm Bellpenny is to acquire EFG Independent Financial Advisers to form Bellpenny Group's new independent advice arm BIA Financial Planning.

EFG has offices in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and London and has 11 advisers who look after 800 active clients and £650m in funds under management (FUM). The deal will increase Bellpenny's total FUM to over £3.5bn.

EFG IFA was formed following the acquisition of Ashby London and Platts Flello and has been acquired from EFG Private Bank Limited for an undisclosed sum,

BIA Financial Planning clients will continue to receive their existing services, along with the “additional benefits” from being a member of Bellpenny Group, says the company. Bellpenny says BIA Financial Planning will be an independent advice business.

Bellpenny were advised by Quayle Munro and Soprano Consulting and is considering further acquisitions with support from its owner Oaktree Capital Management.

Nigel Stockton, Bellpenny CEO, said: "The acquisition of EFG IFA is a fantastic addition to the Bellpenny Group and brings with it a wealth of experience from the highly qualified staff.

“Our new independent advice service is another great example of the added value we are able to provide to clients, and the future of the Bellpenny service. The EFG IFA acquisition fits into our fewer, larger deals strategy and it's an exciting start to the year with much more to look forward to.”

Peter London, EFG IFA executive chairman, said: “I am incredibly proud of the EFG IFA business that we have built over the last six years and we look forward to this continuing and expanding even further with the Bellpenny team.”

John Male, EFG IFA managing director, said: "We are looking forward to working with Nigel and the Bellpenny team as we want to grow the new BIA business even further."
The deal is subject to change of control authorisation from the FCA.