Acquisitive fintech and adviser support services firm Fintel, the owner of SimplyBiz and Defaqto, has acquired financial services event firm Owen James Events for up to £2.3m.

It paid £0.7m upfront and will add up to £1.6m contingent on certain trading criteria being delivered in the first three years.

Owen James Events is provider of events across the financial services sector. It will retain its independent market position, operating within Fintel IQ, while managing director James Goad will remain with the business.

Neil Stevens, joint chief executive of Fintel, said: “The acquisition of Owen James will allow us to expand our range of services, delivering education and strategic engagement opportunities to greater numbers of advice firms, wealth managers, paraplanners, mortgage brokers, and those in the private banking sector.

“Fintel’s strategy to prioritise key market adjacencies, grow our product platform, connect the market, and inspire better outcomes, is in total alignment with that of Owen James.”

James Goad said: “Our acquisition by Fintel will power us to reach more people and evolve our events to the next level, while maintaining our status as independent.”

It is the sixth business acquired by Fintel in the past year along with Synaptic, VouchedFor, Competent Adviser, MiCap and AKG.

Last month it paid out £4m for Synaptic Software which it bought from AdvancedAdvT Limited. The deal has now completed following approval from the FCA.

It acquired professional advisers' review site VouchedFor and ratings provider AKG for a combined £9.1m in November.Fintel acquired digital knowledge and competence management system Competent Adviser in July as well as the tax-efficient investment research firm MICAP in the same month.

Defaqto’s adviser software platforms Engage and Centra added AKG’s DFM Financial Strength ratings in September.

Fintel also holds a 25% stake in new Planner tech business Plannr Technologies, which it acquired in June.

Meanwhile Fintel released a trading update this morning in which it predicted that its full year results are expected to be in line with board expectations.

It said adjusted growth would be around 6% to £20.5m, up from £19.4m in 2022. Core revenue increased to £56.5m, up 0.3% from £56.4m.

The company said it had a strong balance sheet with £12.8m in cash, and £69m of headroom in a £80m revolving credit facility. Its net cash position was £1.8m, after having invested in four acquisitions.

It said that ongoing pressures in the UK housing market were largely offset by continued growth in fintech software revenue and software license sales. It said the company is “well placed to benefit from a recovery in the mortgage market.”

Looking ahead it promised “strategic investments to improve and expand our offering” and that it would “maintain a strong M&A pipeline.”