finnCap Cavendish advises shareholder group on majority stake sale in London & Capital to Lovell Minnick

•             finnCap Cavendish provided advisory services to the Freedman family, shareholders in London & Capital, on their majority stake sale to Lovell Minnick

•             London & Capital is one of the UK’s leading independent wealth managers, focused on US family office, private investment office and institutional clients

•             Sold to Lovell Minnick, a US-based private equity firm focused on financial services, financial technology and related business services

finnCap Cavendish, part of finnCap Group plc, is pleased to announce it has advised the Freedman family shareholders in the majority sale of their stake in London & Capital Group Limited, one of the UK’s leading independent wealth managers, to Lovell Minnick Partners, the US-based private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, financial technology and related business services.

As part of the transaction, London & Capital’s management team will continue to run the business and retain a significant minority stake.

Founded in 1986, London & Capital has three specialist franchises focused on US family office, private investment office and institutional clients. The business has a differentiated and highly scalable investment process, deployed across all three franchises, and coordinated by a 12-strong investment desk.

The investment with Lovell Minnick will enable the business to expand its client solutions, grow internationally, invest in technology and bring on new teams. 

The deal was led by Lord Leigh of Hurley, Senior Partner and Ben Goldring, Head of Financial Services.

Elaine Freedman, shareholder of London & Capital, commented:

“We are delighted to have achieved this result for the business that Daniel Freedman co-founded and found such a strong partner in the form of Lovell Minnick for the next stage of its growth. Howard and Ben were an excellent support throughout this process, and provided us with first class advice and guidance throughout.”

Guy McGlashan, Chief Executive Officer of London & Capital, commented:

“We chose to partner with LMP because of the firm’s excellent track record of working with management teams to scale and enhance wealth and asset management firms. Their deep experience in the space and our sense of shared values and culture align with our focus on providing an exceptional service and experience for our clients.”

Ben Goldring, Head of Financial Services at finnCap Cavendish, commented:

“It has been a pleasure advising the Freedman family and working with the management team on this landmark transaction. 2022 has already seen several major acquisitions in the wealth management space and the long-term market dynamics remain highly compelling with strong forecast growth of both the number of global HNWI and onshore wealth segments over the next few years. I look forward to seeing London & Capital flourish in their new partnership with Lovell Minnick.”

finnCap Capital Markets is delighted to have advised K3 Capital Group plc in their placing of £10.0m in order to fund the acquisitions of Knight Corporate Finance (CF) and Knight R&D Limited.

Knight CF is a sector-specific corporate finance boutique advising clients in the technology and telecoms sector, while Knight R&D provides recurring, contracted revenues over a three-year cycle, and both Knight businesses will provide further diversification within K3’s existing divisions by permitting expansion of sector specialisation and size of client.

Jonny Franklin-Adams, Co-Head of Corporate Finance, comments: “A year after we last raised K3 Capital £30m to execute on two transformational acquisitions, where in the intervening period they have successfully upgraded their forecasts in the market four times, we are delighted to have once again help the team at K3 Capital raise some more equity to help them complete on more accretive transactions.”

finnCap Debt Advisory supports K3 Capital Group plc on securing its maiden debt facility.
 
K3 Capital Group plc (“K3” or the “Group”), a multi-disciplinary professional services firm providing advisory services to SMEs, is pleased to report the Group has secured total available debt facilities of £15m from HSBC through a new £10m committed revolving credit facility with an approved, but uncommitted, accordion facility of up to £5m.

Andy Melbourne, CFO, K3: “We are delighted with the support of the finnCap Debt Advisory team in securing our maiden debt facility with a new banking partner. To date, the Group has been supported by its shareholders and its own cash generation in delivering the Board’s vision. The new debt facility represents an important evolution of our capital structure, creating more flexible funding options as we consider further strategic acquisitions, in line with our ongoing growth strategy.”

Alistair Hay, Partner, finnCap: “This transaction represents an important milestone for K3 as they diversify their M&A funding options via the new debt facility. We introduced a local HSBC team to K3 early in the process and are delighted the Bank was able to deliver the desired quantum and structure on attractive terms.”

finnCap Group have advised K3 Capital Group plc on its £30.45m fundraise and its acquisitions of randd uk ltd, which advises clients on Research and Development Tax Credit (RDTC) claims, for an initial consideration of £9.27m, and restructuring and advisory firm Quantuma for an initial payment of £26.95m.

These acquisitions represent highly complementary additions to K3’s service offering and we look forward to working with our client on its exciting new growth journey.

Jonny Franklin-Adams, Co-Head of Corporate Finance, finnCap Group, commented: “The fundraising and associated acquisitions are testament to the management’s ambition and drive to create a diversified financial services group. We are confident that their meticulous attention to detail will now ensure that a flawless integration plan is executed for the benefit of all stakeholders.”

Tony Ford, Executive Deputy Chairman, K3, commented: “From start to finish we could not have done this without your support and guidance and the tenacity of the sales team over last few days of the roadshow showed the passion of finnCap at its absolute best. Each of you have gone the extra mile- well done everyone and take a well-deserved pat on the back. From the bottom of our hearts - a great big ‘thank you’.”

finnCap have raised £13m for Frenkel Topping Group Plc, a specialist independent financial adviser and wealth manager focused on asset protection for its clients.

The oversubscribed fundraise will allow the Company to execute its M&A roll-up strategy, consolidating the heavily fragmented pre-settlement professional services marketplace in the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence arena.

Carl Holmes, Corporate Finance Director, finnCap Group, comments: “We are delighted with to have helped Frenkel Topping raise £13m to execute its ambitious acquisition strategy. It was a well-supported fundraise and will add some excellent new investors to the Company’s share register. The Company is now very well positioned to consolidate the Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence arena and finnCap is very pleased to be advising such an ambitious Company and management team."

finnCap have advised KRM22 plc (AIM: KRM), the technology and software investment company, on their £1.3m placing.

finnCap's Debt Advisory Team is pleased to announce that it has advised Morses Club PLC (“Morses Club” or “the Group”) on securing an extension of its revolving credit facility (the “RCF”) with its existing funding syndicate until the end of November 2021.

Morses Club, an established provider of non-standard financial services, has agreed a reduction in the level of the facility from £50 million to £40 million to better reflect the requirements of the business over the next 18 months as it anticipates some deleveraging of the business driven by decreased sales volumes due to COVID-19. In the last year this additional £10m headroom has not been used. Facility levels that better reflect the near term needs of the business are expected to reduce funding costs, with the Group’s higher interest rate mezzanine debt facility now fully repaid and lower non-utilisation costs on the RCF facility expected.

Paul Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Morses Club, commented:

“I am delighted that we have secured a new loan facility and that our three existing funders continue to support the business during this challenging period, demonstrating their confidence in Morses Club and our growth and digital diversification strategy. The new loan facility provides us with sufficient funding to meet our requirements including expanding our product offering as we address the evolving needs of our customers.”

Alistair Hay, Partner and Head of Debt Advisory at finnCap, commented:

“The successful refinancing of Morses Club’s existing debt facilities is a testament to the strength of the underlying business model against a backdrop of increasing market uncertainty. The new facility is right-sized for the needs of the business, simplifies the debt structure, lowers the Group’s cost of capital and provides a robust platform for the Group going forward. In the current climate, it is also encouraging that existing lenders are engaging with and supporting their clients with their financing needs.”

Cavendish, part of finnCap Group, has advised HFMC Wealth on securing debt facilities to facilitate the acquisition of Aspinalls Group.

David Aspinall, founder and Executive Chairman of Aspinalls Group, said: “To ensure continuity for our clients, it was vital that any such partner shared our values and those of our clients, whilst mirroring our approach to wealth management. I wanted to have complete confidence that our clients would continue to receive high-quality ongoing advice and service for as long as they need it.

“In HFMC Wealth we have found a partner that meets all these requirements and who will protect the legacy of the business we are proud to have built over the last 38 years.”

The purchase of Aspinalls adds assets under management (“AUM”) of over £130m and brings total AUM for the Group in excess of £1.4bn. The acquisition represents a return to M&A for HFMC following their previous acquisition of Generic Financial Management (in October 2018) as management continues to progress their ambitious growth strategy with further acquisitions expected to add new products and future expansion.

Senior debt facilities were provided by ThinCats to refinance an existing Natwest facility and also fund the Aspinalls consideration.

Dave Sherrington, Regional Head of Sales at ThinCats, said:

“We are delighted to have worked closely with finnCap Group to create a funding solution to support HFMC with its growth plans. Wealth management is a long-term growth sector and HFMC is well-placed to benefit. We look forward to supporting them in the years ahead.”

Alistair Hay, Partner and Head of Debt Advisory at finnCap Group, commented:

“We are grateful for the opportunity to work with Jeremy and his team on financing this important acquisition. In ThinCats, the Group has a supportive, long-term financing partner who invested the time in understanding the business and tailored a debt structure accordingly. We look forward to working together with both parties in the future.”

finnCap have advised Bracken Holdings on their admission to trading on the NEX Exchange Growth Market.

finnCap have acted as Rule 3 adviser to the offeree (FFI Holdings Plc) on a circa. £40m recommended bid by Lumiere Acquisitions Company LLC.

finnCap have acted as financial adviers to Tax Systems Plc on a possible offer by Bowmark Capital LLP.

finnCap have acted as financial adviser to Laird Investments for its bid for Rangers International Football Club