AJ Bell, a UK-based online investment platform, has confirmed the sale of its Platinum self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and self-invested personal pension (SSAS) business to InvestAcc Group, a specialist pensions administration firm, for a potential total of £25m.
The transaction involves an initial payment of £18.5m, comprising £17.5m in cash and £1m in new InvestAcc Group shares. An additional £6.5m will be paid in cash, contingent on certain conditions.
For InvestAcc Group, this acquisition is part of its strategic expansion plan, marking its second purchase in the ongoing buy-and-build initiative. It also bolsters InvestAcc Group’s position as a key player in full SIPP administration.
The AJ Bell Platinum SIPP and SSAS business manages 3,562 schemes with assets totalling £3.2bn. It caters to a high-net-worth clientele, with an average SIPP account size nearing £670,000.
AJ Bell CEO Michael Summersgill said: “Our strategy is to provide easy-to-use, low-cost platform propositions using a single, scalable operating model to capitalise on the significant long-term growth opportunity in the UK investment platform market.
“The sale simplifies our business model, enabling the management team to focus on AJ Bell’s core platform business, in line with our growth strategy across both the advised and direct-to-consumer market segments.”
Following this acquisition, InvestAcc Group’s total assets under administration will exceed £8.5bn across 16,000 SIPP and SSAS accounts.
InvestAcc Group executive chairman Mark Hodges said: “The acquisition’s high-net-worth client base, exceptional service proposition and strong financial performance make it a perfect strategic fit for InvestAcc.
“This significantly strengthens our position as a market leader in “Full” SIPP pension administration, allowing us to enhance our service offering while maintaining the highest standards of customer experience. This represents the second acquisition of a wider pipeline of both company and client book extraction acquisition opportunities under active review.”
The transaction is anticipated to be finalised in the latter half of 2025, following the transfer and integration of AJ Bell Platinum’s clientele into InvestAcc Group’s platform.
In the financial year ending 30 September 2024, AJ Bell Platinum contributed £10m to AJ Bell’s non-platform revenue. The completion of this transaction is expected to generate a profit on disposal after deducting transaction costs, enhancing AJ Bell’s capital position according to its capital allocation framework.
Fenchurch Advisory Partners is serving as the financial adviser to AJ Bell on this deal.
