abrdn (LON: ABDN) has confirmed its plans to acquire 100% of UK’s subscription-based investment platform Interactive Investor for £1.49 billion.
As mentioned in the announcement, abrdn and Interactive Investor have a shared vision “of the growth and development of the wealth market and a commitment to being the customer champion.” This acquisition will “significantly enhance our presence and growth opportunities within a fast-growing and attractive market.”
Stephen Bird, CEO of abrdn plc stated:
“This is a unique opportunity and a transformative step in delivering our growth strategy. interactive investor is the UK’s number one subscription-based investing platform with a powerful reputation as a consumer champion. abrdn’s scale, resources, and shared vision will enable interactive investor to grow confidently and expand its leadership position in the UK’s attractive savings and wealth market. I am delighted that Richard Wilson and his team will continue to lead interactive investor.”
Richard Wilson, CEO at Interactive Investor Ltd, remarked:
“This is an exciting new chapter in our history and means that we can focus exclusively on serving those who matter most: our customers. We will have access to abrdn’s additional capabilities across research, advice and wealth management services, and we will benefit from being part of one of Europe’s largest investment and wealth management firms, with a vision and values closely aligned to our own.”
Wilson added:
“Our management will remain the same, and the same extraordinary team will continually develop our service and technology, while maintaining our subscription pricing, our whole of market choice and the same campaigning spirit and editorial independence.”
abrdn reportedly has agreed to acquire “100 per cent. of the ordinary share capital of the holding company of interactive investor Limited (‘interactive investor’) from its shareholders, including J.C. Flowers IV L.P. (a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co.) and key members of interactive investor’s management, for total consideration of £1.49 billion.”
Completion of the Acquisition is currently “subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions including regulatory consents and abrdn Shareholder approval.”
Interactive Investor claims to be the leading subscription-based platform “within the high-growth UK direct investing market, with over 400,000 customers and AUA of approximately £55 billion.”
The UK direct investing market “benefits from accelerating demographic and structural market trends. In combination, the high-tech, high-touch models of interactive investor and abrdn can enable clients to become better investors and create more opportunities for their financially secure futures.”
The Acquisition is “a material step in our building of a leadership position in the personal wealth market, with AUMA in the Personal vector increasing nearly fivefold to £69 billion[5] on a pro forma basis.”
abrdn considers the investment choices, flexibility and fixed fee pricing model that interactive investor “offers customers, and its ethos as a consumer champion, to positively differentiate it in the market. abrdn is therefore committed to interactive investor’s standalone open-architecture, subscription-based revenue model for the long-term.”
As part of the Acquisition, Richard Wilson, CEO of interactive investor will “join abrdn and continue to lead interactive investor, which will operate as a standalone business within abrdn’s Personal vector.”
For more details on this announcement, check here.