Chartered planning firm Fairstone has fully acquired Sims Financial Planning, its third acquisition of the year.
Sims first joined Fairstone through its Downstream Buy Out programme in July 2015 and completed its integration prior to the final purchase.
This latest deal brings total fee income of almost £500,000 to Fairstone and funds under management of more than £90m. Three staff will also join Fairstone.
Neil Sims, company principal at Sims Financial Planning, said: “We wanted to find a large, well established and professional firm which had the tools to support our advisory activities. Fairstone’s downstream buy out process has been a vital part of integrating successfully and it has ensured that there were no sudden shocks upon acquisition. We have enjoyed excellent support in all aspects of the business including investment management and compliance as well as specialist advice in areas such as mortgages and long-term care.”
Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone Group, added: “It has been an excellent start to 2018 as we absorb further quality firms into the wider business. With our support in areas such as client activation, marketing, compliance and regulation we are able to help our partners achieve very significant levels of organic growth. Because of this, many ambitious DBO firms have received a higher valuation for their business on final acquisition than expected.
“We have enjoyed working closely with Neil and his team over the past few years as they have become part of Fairstone. They are dedicated to providing quality independent advice and by relieving them of the regulatory and compliance burden, they can now spend more time working with their clients and expanding their business.”
