Consolidator Fairstone has added £4.1bn of assets through its successful partnership programme with advice firms across the UK and Ireland.
The consolidator said 29 advice firms and 177 advisers joined the group in the last 24 months.
Fairstone signed its 87th partner firm under its Downstream Buy Out (DBO) programme at the end of last year.
The DBO programme allows IFA firms who have no desire to sell in the immediate future the ability to release capital and then work towards a full sale at a future date.
During the partnership period, Fairstone provides access to investment, resource and new clients to ensure that each business reaches its optimal value at the date of full acquisition.
Lee Hartley, chief executive of Fairstone, lauded the firm’s growth in 2024 and the success of its DBO model.
He said: “Throughout 2024 we have welcomed some fantastic, growth-orientated firms into Fairstone through the DBO programme. The mutual alignment of company values has been fundamental to each acquisition and to the success of the DBO programme to date.
“Over the last decade, every firm that has joined Fairstone through the Downstream Buy Out model has received no less than 100% of their initial sale value, with many having achieved a great deal more. Over the last two years the average value received after earn-out has been 120%, with the most successful firm hitting an incredible 180%.”
He added that Fairstone’s deal-making pipeline remains strong, with firms managing over £6bn of AUM engaged in advanced discussions.
Meanwhile, Fairstone’s merger and acquisition team have extended the reach of the DBO programme with the launch of the firm’s new Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) and Start-up Joint Venture (SJV) models.
The SPV proposition enables entrepreneurial principals, who have already taken their businesses through to full acquisition with Fairstone, to build and ultimately sell a new business of scale with infrastructure and capital support.
It also enables clusters of independent, self-employed or employed advisers to become business owners in partnership with Fairstone and work together to create a capital event of their own.
Hartley said: “There are so many fantastic, employed advisers out there whose hard work is creating capital value for others. They are rightly nervous about the risk associated with setting out on their own. We take away that risk, allow them to continue to do what they do best and ultimately benefit from the significant capital value that they create”.
Fairstone is a national advice firm overseeing £17bn in assets under management on behalf of over 125,000 wealth and mortgage clients.
The firm operates from over 56 locations with a head office in the North East and a City office.
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