Investment firm and wealth manager Rathbone Brothers has acquired Financial Planner Saunderson House for £150m.

The move comes after Saunderson House revealed earlier this year that it was cutting 25 jobs as the pandemic forced a round of cost cutting.

Rathbones says the move will help to make it the third biggest wealth manager in the UK.

Saunderson House has £4.7bn in Funds Under Management or Advice, 2,200 clients and 55 financial advisers. Clients' average portfolio size is £2.2m.

The acquisition of Saunderson House will increase the number of in-house Financial Planners at Rathbones from 25 to 80.

Rathbones believes the deal will increase pro forma FUMA to about £61bn, making it the third largest wealth manager in the UK by its calculation.

In a statement to Financial Planning Today earlier this year, Saunderson House said the pandemic had been tough for the firm and had forced it to cut costs by making some staff redundant.

Saunderson House is ultimately owned by private equity firm Epiris which recently acquired the Nucleus platform via its James Hay subsidiary. Epiris acquired IFG Group, owner of Saunderson House and platform and SIPP provider James Hay, in 2019 in a £206m deal. 

Saunderson House was founded in 1968 and is a Corporate Chartered Financial Planning firm. Clients include high-net worth individuals, charities and trusts and many of its advisers are Chartered Financial Planners or aiming for this status. Other staff are also members of the CFA members or the CISI. 

Rathbones says the acquisition will help it to target more HNW professional clients and offers a “strong cultural fit.”

Rathbones will pay a total of £150m for Saunderson House. This will comprise an initial sum of £135.1m (£130.2m cash and £4.9m in new shares) and £14.9m in deferred consideration. Rathbones has agreed to pay up to £7.5m in employee incentive plan awards aligned to the value creation of the transaction by the end of 2024.

Rathbones will acquire 100% of the issued share capital of CastleCo Limited, the holding company of the Saunderson House group, subject to regulatory approval. 

Saunderson House is mostly focused on professional clients in London and the South East and provides services to accountants and lawyers. It has long-standing relationships with large accountancy firms and  law firms in particular. 

Rathbones says the acquisition will enhance its ability to offer a “more holistic wealth management proposition.” Saunderson House advisers will also add to Rathbones' capacity to provide Financial Planning to existing Rathbones Investment Management clients.

Rathbones also operates the Vision Financial Planning group, an independent adviser network with £2.3bn of FUMA. Vision will continue to operate independently. 

Paul Stockton, CEO of Rathbones, said: “Saunderson House is a high-quality business with a strong desire to deliver leading wealth management services to clients over the long term, and it will add both scale and capability to Rathbones." 

Tony Overy, CEO of Saunderson House, said: "This transaction provides long-term ownership stability for Saunderson House to enable us to continue to focus on providing our high level of client service, developing and enhancing our proposition, and providing an excellent environment for our people as part of a well-respected and well-capitalised group."

The acquisition is subject to approval by the FCA and is expected to complete in the third quarter of 2021.