Raymond James agrees to acquire Charles Stanley Group for £278.9 million

Raymond James agrees to acquire Charles Stanley Group for £278.9 million
Raymond James has long admired Charles Stanley’s reputation, heritage and its talented pool of investment managers, financial planners (collectively referred to as wealth managers) and professionals.

LONDON, UK: Raymond James UK Wealth Management Holdings Limited (Bidco) has agreed to buy entire issued and to be issued share capital of Charles Stanley Group at 515 pence in cash for each Charles Stanley share translating into £278.9 million.

The acquisition is being implemented by way of a Court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act.

Under the terms of the acquisition, a Loan Note Alternative will be available to Charles Stanley shareholders (other than Charles Stanley Shareholders resident or located in a Restricted Jurisdiction, including the United States) which will enable eligible Charles Stanley Shareholders to elect to receive Loan Notes in lieu of part or all of the cash consideration to which they would otherwise be entitled under the terms of the Acquisition.

Raymond James has long admired Charles Stanley’s reputation, heritage and its talented pool of investment managers, financial planners (collectively referred to as wealth managers) and professionals.

The two firms share a common client-centric approach and both offer employed and self-employed affiliation models, while Raymond James also provides platform services, enabling the flexibility that wealth managers value. Charles Stanley meets Raymond James’ historical acquisition criteria, in particular as an excellent strategic fit with a complementary culture.

Acquisition would provide both Raymond James and Charles Stanley with the opportunity to accelerate the growth of their respective current UK wealth management businesses, creating operations with the scale to support expansion and flourish in a highly competitive and consolidating UK marketplace.

Charles Stanley would allow Raymond James to benefit from the contributions of approximately 200 additional wealth managers, many of whom are located in key geographic areas across the United Kingdom that Raymond James has targeted for expansion.

Charles Stanley would add approximately £27.1 billion in client assets, bringing Raymond James’ total client assets in the UK to over £40 billion. Raymond James shares Charles Stanley’s vision of a broad holistic wealth proposition offering discretionary, advisory and execution services delivered from bespoke through to digitally-supported formats.

Raymond James is confident that the acquisition would provide major benefits to all stakeholders, and that, with further investment, it would strengthen and enhance the range of services available to clients of both Raymond James Investment Services (RJIS), Raymond James’ UK wealth management business, and Charles Stanley and their respective wealth managers.

Raymond James is a US company with its headquarters located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Public since 1983, the firm has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 1986 under the symbol RJF.

Raymond James is a multinational independent investment bank and financial services company providing financial services to individuals, corporations, and municipalities through its subsidiary companies that engage primarily in investment and financial planning, in addition to capital markets, banking and asset management services.

Commenting on the Acquisition, Paul Reilly, CEO of Raymond James, said: “We have long respected and admired Charles Stanley and believe our proposal presents an extremely attractive opportunity to combine our respective UK wealth management operations.

Raymond James will seek to leverage the respective strengths of Charles Stanley and Raymond James through further investment in technology, infrastructure and back office partnerships to enhance the firms’ already strong offering in wealth management.”

Commenting on the Acquisition, Paul Abberley, CEO of Charles Stanley, said: “The Board believes that the terms of the Acquisition represent fair value and an attractive premium for Charles Stanley shareholders and therefore intends to recommend unanimously that Shareholders vote in favour of the Acquisition.

Raymond James recognises Charles Stanley’ reputation, heritage and talented staff, as well as our shared client-centric approach and compatible structures and cultures. Supported by the clear strategic rationale and intentions Raymond James has described today, I believe all stakeholders will benefit from the opportunities for growth arising from Charles Stanley becoming embedded within the Raymond James group.”

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