The deal which includes the leading Abacus and Duchy brands, sees the new combined businesses with assets under advice and management of over £7bn and more than 300 staff – with this transaction contributing £2.4bn of assets under advice, over 140 advisers and staff of 95

The business will continue to be managed by existing managing director of Abacus Associates Financial Services, Mal Harper, who will report to Saltus managing partner, Jon Macintosh. It will operate as a discrete business unit, complementing Saltus’s existing business units.

The deal is scheduled to complete in the Autumn following regulatory and Tavistock shareholder approval.

The transaction represents a new milestone in the Saltus story, as the company continues to invest in its business and develop its offering for the benefit of a greater range of partners and clients.

This business complements Saltus’s existing activities, a client facing financial planning business, and the Saltus Partnership Programme which provides services to entrepreneurial third party financial advisers, the statement further said.

Saltus managing partner Jon Macintosh said: “We are delighted to welcome Mal and his team on board. We are impressed by the record of growth Mal has achieved and the quality of care he and his colleagues provide to their clients.

“There’s a strong strategic case for this deal and the complementary nature of our two businesses will ensure that 1+1=3.

“Abacus is already an important client for Saltus; we have been looking after some of Abacus clients’ investments for some time. We have been helping to turn around the performance of their in-house investment management proposition and we have got to know each other well. The entrepreneurial attitude, track record of putting clients first and wider culture at Abacus fit well with our own, recently recognised in our success in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work awards.”

Macintosh continued: “Saltus enjoys the highest rate of organic growth in the industry, driven in part by a very strong sales and marketing operation, which the Abacus business will benefit from.

“Moreover, the combined business will benefit substantially from having access to the investments we have made at Saltus, particularly in our platform and our client and adviser facing technology.

“This is an important deal for us, and it represents an important milestone in our continued story of investing in our proposition to the benefit of partners, colleagues and clients. We are excited about the future.”

Brian Raven, Tavistock’s chief executive said: “We have worked with Mal and his businesses since 2014, so it was important for us to find the best home for him, his advisers and his staff. We believe that is Saltus. Our two businesses may now be moving in different directions, but we wish Mal and his team all the very best for the future.”

Malcolm Harper, managing director of Abacus Associates Financial Services, said: “We have been impressed by the quality of Saltus and what Jon and the team have achieved and the professionalism and quality of the Saltus operation. Abacus and our associated operations fit neatly into the Saltus mould and will do much to extend the company’s footprint.

“There is plenty more scope for development and investment to come across the entirety of the business and there is much to be gained from applying Saltus technology across our activities. It’s a great cultural fit and our people, partners and clients will be very happy at Saltus and I am thrilled to be joining.”

Tavistock said in the statement issued on 8 June: “This follows a sustained period of unacceptable performance by Titan.”

It further said: “It is the board’s expectation that the final sums due under the agreement will be received in due course and further updates will be made as appropriate.”

In April last year the plc company acquired Precise Protect, a UK-wide protection business based in Bangor, Northern Ireland.

This deal added to its network to create more than 400 advisers and other business introducers working with more than 110,000 UK retail clients with total assets estimated to be more than £6bn, as well as 350 corporate and affinity clients with some 16,000 employees.

In a separate statement, Titan noted Tavistock’s announcement dated 8 July 2024 that its 10-year partnership with Titan has come to an end, it said:  “Tavistock’s suggestion that the partnership has been terminated because of ‘unacceptable performance’ by Titan is wrong and strongly denied. The partnership was terminated by Titan against a background of serious wrongful conduct by Tavistock and certain individuals associated with it who, Titan believes, have deliberately acted contrary to the terms of the partnership.

“In light of those matters, and contrary to the ‘expectation’ of Tavistock’s board, as reflected in its announcement, there are no further sums which Titan expects to pay to Tavistock under the agreement. In fact, by reason of the wrongful conduct referred to, it is Titan that has claims against Tavistock for substantial damages.

“Those claims are now the subject of pre-action correspondence between the parties’ legal representatives in accordance with the applicable court protocols, and accordingly, it would be inappropriate for Titan to comment further on them at this stage.”

Precise Protect is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and is based in Bangor, Northern Ireland.

The business has a network of over 200 advisers working with more than 37,000 UK clients, with an average age of under 40. The firm offers its clients a wide range of products (including life and critical illness cover, private medical insurance, personal injury and income protection), several of which were developed in-house and are unique to the firm.

Following the deal, the Tavistock group will have more than 400 advisers and other business introducers looking after over 110,000 private clients with estimated assets of over £5bn, as well as 350 corporate and affinity clients with some 16,000 employees.

Tavistock said that the Precise Protect deal is the “first significant acquisition” in the next phase of Tavistock’s growth plan. Integration of Precise into the Tavistock group will provide opportunities for operational cost savings, including software, systems and regulatory oversight.

Brian Raven, Tavistock chief executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tony and his team into the group and to add Precise Protect’s products to the wider group’s service proposition. We look forward to benefitting from numerous synergies, including operational cost savings, increased profitability and new business leads.”

The deal comes several months after Tavistock announced it had received an offer from the Bank of Ireland for up to £20m to assist with its acquisition strategy.

The company announced the development in its interim half year results for the six months ended 30 September 2022.

Brian Raven, Tavistock chief executive, said: “We are continuing to achieve strong organic growth and are well placed to pursue a targeted acquisition strategy.”

“The group’s cash resources have recently been bolstered by receipt of the first of three deferred consideration payments from Titan Wealth and an offer from the Bank of Ireland for up to £20m to assist with executing our acquisition strategy.”

M&A targets

Over the last year, Tavistock has been very active in the M&A space.

In December 2022, the firm sold financial advice research and data provider LEBC Hummingbird to Aspira Corporate Solutions for £3m. Tavistock acquired the firm in May 2022 for the same sum, after purchasing a 21% stake in parent company LEBC Holdings for £10m.

In March 2021, Tavistok rebuffed an unsolicited £15.2m takeover bid; then in August 2021, it unloaded its £1bn multi-asset arm to private equity-backed consolidator Titan Wealth.

Oliver Cooke, chairman of Tavistock, added: “Investigating acquisition opportunities and exploring different financing options, as well as the wider development of the business, is a time-consuming process involving occasional dead ends at the due diligence stage.

“However, the company is currently engaged in discussions with several well qualified acquisition targets, which it is well positioned to pursue. The company’s cash resources have been bolstered by the recent receipt of the first of three deferred consideration payments from Titan and further strengthened by an offer from the Bank of Ireland to provide a facility of up to £20m to assist with its acquisition strategy.”

In its results, the firm reported that revenues were up 16% compared to same period last year and up 59% compared to same period in 2020 (H1 2022: £17m, H1 2021: £14.7m, H1 2020: £10.7m).

Tavistock acquired the firm in May 2022 for the same sum, after purchasing a 21% stake in parent company LEBC Holdings for £10m.

Under the deal, LEBC Group subsidiary Aspira Corporate Solutions has paid £1.5m on completion and £1.5m on 30 November 2022.

The Hummingbird sale was announced on the London Stock Exchange on 1 December, a day after the final payment to LEBC was due.

Originally, Tavistock acquired Hummingbird to provide LEBC Group with “additional working capital”, it said.

“However, as an alternative source of working capital was subsequently identified for LEBC Group, Tavistock agreed to sell Hummingbird to Aspira on the same terms as those on which it had been purchased in May 2022.”

Hummingbird is an unregulated business that provides research on the asset class allocations to be used within funds and model portfolios.