Brooks Macdonald has snapped up Edinburgh-based firm Cornelian Asset Managers in a £39m deal.

In a stockmarket announcement this morning, the firm said it had acquired 100% of Cornelian's issued share capital from its shareholders, which include senior management.

It has paid an initial sum of £31m, comprised of £22m in cash and £9m in Brooks shares, with up to a further £8m to pay “depending upon Cornelian meeting certain pre-agreed performance targets relating to the retention and growth of client assets as well as the realisation of cost synergies”.

Caroline Connellan, Brooks Macdonald CEO, hailed the deal and said the two firms had “complimentary cultures” and would bring “additional multi-asset capability and distribution strength”.

She said: “The transaction creates value for our shareholders and crucially will provide benefits for both firms' clients and the intermediaries with whom we work.

“The acquisition of Cornelian is a significant step forward in our medium-term strategy of delivering sustainable, value-enhancing growth.”

Jeremy Richardson, CEO of Cornelian, said: “It was important to us to find a company with a similar culture and investment philosophy and critically one that we were confident would provide the highest levels of service to our clients and intermediary supporters.”