Thistle Initiatives has acquired management consultancy TORI Global as the London-based compliance adviser pushes further into digital transformation and broader management consulting for financial services clients.
The deal combines two independent consultancies serving banks, wealth managers, insurers, payments firms, fintechs and other financial institutions, creating a group with more than 140 employees across the UK, Ireland, the United States and Asia-Pacific, the companies said.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2012, Thistle Initiatives has built its business around compliance, regulatory advisory and financial crime prevention, working with more than 1,000 clients including banks, wealth management firms, insurers, payment providers, fintechs and digital assets companies.
TORI Global, which is headquartered in London and also operates in Ireland and New York, has spent the past two decades focused on management consulting and has completed more than 1,000 engagements for over 200 financial services organisations.
The acquisition comes shortly after Thistle appointed Scott Friedrichs as chief executive, with a mandate to expand the firm beyond its traditional compliance consulting roots and deepen its presence in management consulting across the financial services sector.
“We are very pleased to confirm the acquisition of TORI Global and to welcome their outstanding team to our organisation,” Friedrichs said in a statement.
He said the transaction would strengthen Thistle’s digital transformation division and support its ambition to build a larger advisory platform for financial services clients.
The combined group is seeking to position itself as a broader alternative to larger consulting firms as financial institutions grapple with regulation, technology upgrades and operating model changes.
TORI brings capabilities spanning data, digital and artificial intelligence transformation, alongside project and programme management, benchmarking, management information services, vendor management, change management, business process redesign and interim management.
Martin Harvey, chief executive of TORI Global, said the firm had been built as an alternative to the “Big Four” in financial services consulting and that the combination with Thistle would expand its ability to advise clients across innovation, operations, resilience and compliance.
Both businesses will now operate under the Thistle Initiatives brand, completing a deal that broadens Thistle’s reach from compliance-focused advisory work into larger-scale transformation programmes for financial services firms.
The acquisition reflects a broader trend in financial services consulting, where specialist firms are trying to offer a more integrated suite of services as banks, insurers and fintechs confront overlapping pressures from regulation, operational resilience, cost control, and digital modernization.
