UK financial planning firm Fairstone Group has sealed its 12th strategic tie-up in Ireland in three years, bringing assets under advisement on behalf of clients in the State to €2.5 billion.
The group entered the market in late 2022 with a deal to buy Dublin-based financial planning firm, PAX Financial, which was behind the Askpaul.ie mortgages-to-pensions advisory brand and had about €200 million under advice at the time, for an undisclosed sum.
An 11th follow-on deal by Fairstone Ireland has now been agreed with Offaly-based ERA Financial, led by Aidan O’Neill, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. It will bring total employees in the network close to 200.
Fairstone, backed by US private equity firm TA Associates, has pursued a so-called downstream buyout model to expand. This typically involves the initial acquisition of up to 9 per cent of a firm and helping the target to grow revenues and profits over two years, before the balance is acquired.
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There are usually follow-up payments after that, subject to certain performance targets being met.
A spokeswoman declined to comment on the financial details of the ERA Financial deal. However, she said that the total valuation of Fairstone Group deals in Ireland to date amounts to €65 million, including earnouts.
“We’re delighted to welcome Aidan and the ERA team into Fairstone,” said Paul Merriman, chief executive of Fairstone Ireland. He led PAX Financial before the 2022 deal.
“This partnership strengthens our mission to build a truly national, client-centric advice business that delivers the very best financial solutions to individuals and families across Ireland.”
Other deals in recent years included Murray & Spelman in Galway, Cleer Life & Pensions in Kilkenny, and, earlier this month, Everlake in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.
While the general insurance broking sector has been the subject of flurry of mergers and acquisitions over the past decade, consolidation in the financial advisory space is less advanced. The ultimate backers of the acquirers in both sectors are often private equity firms, even if recurring fees, beloved by such investors, is less of a feature in the financial advisory industry than in insurance broking.
Other aggregators in the sector in recent times have been Howden Ireland, which counts investment firms General Atlantic and Hg Capital and Canadian investment group CDPQ as big shareholders, and Gallivan Financial. The latter is owned by the Gallivan family in Killarney, who previously sold Gallivan Murphy Insurance Brokers (GMIB) to US-based Assured Partners in 2022.
Headquartered in Sunderland in England, the Fairstone Group is one of the UK’s fastest-growing financial services businesses, operating from more than 65 locations across its home market and the Republic.
The group comprises multiple divisions, including financial management, private wealth, corporate solutions, mortgage solutions and estate planning. It has more than 1,500 operational staff and regulated advisers, with £20 billion (€23 billion) of assets under advisement.
TA Associates, which bought a majority stake in Fairstone Group in 2021, has been very active in the Irish market this year.
It acquired FD Technologies, the Newry-based data and analytics company, off the stock market in July for £541.6 million, in July. It agreed earlier in the year to buy healthcare technology group Clanwilliam for a figure reported to be in excess of €400 million.
