Fast-growing Financial Planner and wealth manager Kingswood Group has completed its acquisition of Sterling Trust Financial Consulting after making the final deferred consideration payment of £1.775m.

The £18m acquisition was announced on 25 June 2020.

Sterling Trust was acquired for £17.75m, payable over a three-year period, and funded by Kingswood’s issue of over 7.7m new convertible preference shares under the terms of its agreement with HSQ Investment Limited, which was controlled by private equity firm Pollen Street Capital.

Kingswood said will satisfy the consideration through the utilisation of its funding facility, as announced on 17 October 2022.

David Lawrence, Kingswood chief executive, said: "Sterling Trust was a transformative acquisition for Kingswood when completed in June 2020 and we have been delighted at the growth it has seen as part of the Kingswood group.”

In March, Kingswood confirmed it was considering a potential sale but after a strategic review it ruled out a sale earlier this month.

Kingswood reported a 10% rise in first half group operating profit at the end of September.

It has acquired numerous UK and US Financial Planning and Wealth Management firms in recent years including Berkshire-based Financial Planner Barry Fleming & Partners for £6.2m in January and JFP Holdings Limited, the parent company of Cheshire Chartered Financial Planner JFP Financial Services Limited, for £12.4m in December.

The company has made more than 15 acquisitions since the start of 2021, adding over £3.2bn of assets under management and advice and £11.8m of additional revenue in 2022.