Mattioli Woods marks a significant milestone in its growth strategy as it announces its largest acquisitions to date. It has entered binding agreements to acquire a leading UK private equity and alternative asset manager Maven Capital Partners UK LLP, and one of the largest independent providers of investment, financial planning and pension advice in the North West of England LWMG Topco Limited (the holding company of Ludlow Wealth Management Group Ltd). Both are well aligned to Mattioli Woods’ stated strategic ambitions and offer compelling synergies across the Group and between themselves.
These strategic acquisitions enhance Mattioli Woods’ organic growth potential. They will add capacity to win new business through Ludlow Wealth Management’s experienced team of 22 advisers. The investment proposition and product range will be enhanced by Maven, a leading private equity investor and alternative asset manager with a 53-strong investment team. Both enhance direct and intermediated distribution channels for the Group’s new and existing products and services.
Maven is one of the UK’s leading private equity and alternative asset managers. It offers investment opportunities in VCTs, private equity and property. It is an owner-led business with 12 partners and a regionally based team of over 90 investment executives and support professionals. Maven has 10 offices in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Newcastle, Bristol, Nottingham, Durham and Reading.
Ludlow Wealth Management is one of the largest independent providers of investment, financial planning and pension advice in the North West of England with 61 employees, including 22 advisers operating across five office locations in Fylde, Preston, Burnley, Liverpool and Southport.
There is a strong cultural fit between Mattioli Woods and the management teams of both Maven and Ludlow Wealth Management. The management teams have known each other for many years and Maven invested in Mattioli Woods when it originally floated on AIM.
Ian Mattioli MBE, Chief Executive Officer of Mattioli Woods, said: “These acquisitions mark significant milestones in Mattioli Woods’ journey. Since our admission to AIM in 2005 we have seen significant expansion in both the size and nature of our business, responsibly integrating asset management, financial planning and employee benefit services to serve personal and corporate clients throughout the UK.
“The acquisitions of Maven and Ludlow Wealth Management represent meaningful progress towards our ambitious medium-term goals. We have a strong track record of combining like-minded businesses that share the same culture and ethos of putting clients first. The teams at Maven and Ludlow Wealth Management share our passion for delivering exceptional client outcomes and going the extra mile. Throughout our discussions with Bill Nixon at Maven and Ian Hemingway at Ludlow Wealth Management, it has been apparent that we share a desire to continue growing the enlarged Group, further enhancing our client proposition and delivering sustainable shareholder returns.
“These transactions represent a complementary extension of the Group’s existing investment proposition and add to our distribution capacity, allowing us to continue developing our product offering, accelerate organic growth and realise both revenue and cost synergies. I believe we are better-positioned than ever to provide our clients with the proactive advice and bespoke investment solutions they require.”
Michael Wright, Group Managing Director of Mattioli Woods added: “We are really pleased to welcome Maven and Ludlow Wealth Management to Mattioli Woods. We have always focused on integration over acquisition, so a strong cultural fit was crucial. We have known both companies for many years now, and are excited about what we can achieve together.
“These are both exceptionally high quality businesses with impeccable compliance records and young adviser and investment management teams. It is important that we are able to bring young dynamic teams to join with our own to support and engender Mattioli Woods’ growth over the next thirty years with the same vigour and level of integrity as was achieved over the past thirty.
“When a business is integrated well it flows through into even greater future organic growth and we intend that these deals will enable us to accrete real shareholder value within even the first full year of acquisition.
“At the heart of everything we do are, of course, our clients, both existing and new. These new partnerships will allow us to offer clients even more products and give more clients access to our full service offering. We hope that Maven and Ludlow Wealth Management will enjoy sharing our five pillars to best serve their clients.”
Bill Nixon, Managing Partner of Maven Capital Partners, said: “Today marks an important step in the continued evolution and growth of the Maven business. Since inception in 2009, Maven has consistently grown its AUM, developing a portfolio of SME products for a wide range of valued private and public sector clients. Our people have been critical to that success and finding the right partner who understands our business and can help our team deliver the next stage of growth has therefore been a key objective for myself and the other Maven partners.
“Both businesses have admired the progress achieved by the other over the past decade, and culturally this acquisition represents an excellent fit. It’s very much business as usual, but this exciting partnership will deliver enhanced opportunities and new product potential which will benefit both businesses and our respective clients.”
Ian Hemingway, CEO of Ludlow Wealth Management said: “This is a hugely positive deal for staff and clients of Ludlow Wealth Management alike. We have known the team at Mattioli Woods for many years, and respect them for sharing our commitment to deliver absolutely the best client service we can offer. We have always put the client at the heart of everything we do and we look forward to this continuing.”
