Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Cabot Square Capital on the sale of LDF to White Oak Global Advisors.

LDF is one of the largest independent finance providers for SMEs in the UK, catering to over 10,000 clients across a diversified set of industries.

Richard McDougall, Partner at Cabot Square Capital, commented: “Fenchurch fielded an experienced, highly committed and knowledgeable team with a good understanding of the industry and market participants. They provided high quality advice throughout the process and took a thoughtful approach to positioning the LDF business and the structure of the sale process, which resulted in a great outcome for the business and its shareholders.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXIS Capital (“AXIS”) on its recommended cash acquisition of Novae Group (“Novae”) for £478 million.

The acquisition combines a leading specialty Lloyd's franchise with a world-class international specialty (re)insurer, strengthening a broad, balanced and efficient global underwriting platform.

Albert Benchimol, President & CEO of AXIS, commented: “Fenchurch’s knowledge of the Lloyd’s sector and UK Takeover Code were critical contributions to our consummation of this transaction. We were well-served by the entire team which was highly engaged throughout the process.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Hargreave Hale, the UK based wealth manager and fund manager, on its sale to Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (“CGWM”) for total consideration of £80m.

Hargreave Hale is one of the UK's leading investment management businesses, providing discretionary wealth management to more than 14,000 private clients, intermediaries and charities, as well as managing a first-class range of funds.

The transaction establishes a substantially enlarged wealth management operation in the UK and Europe for CGWM with over £18 billion in private client assets and £5 billion in fund management  assets.

Stuart Brookes, Joint Managing Director of Hargreave Hale, said: “Fenchurch’s deep wealth management sector expertise and intimate knowledge of the buyer universe were pivotal in enabling Hargreave Hale to select an attractive partner for our clients, employees and shareholders. We were impressed by the team’s dedication to this engagement.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised the shareholders of Lark Group on the merger with Aston Scott, backed by Bowmark Capital.

Founded in 1948, Lark Group is one of the UK’s pre-eminent independent insurance brokers, with specialist capabilities across commercial lines, mid to high net worth private clients and employee benefits, serving over 50,000 clients. The merger with Aston Scott will create one of the UK’s largest independent insurance brokers, controlling over £240m of GWP.

Graham Lark, Chairman of Lark Group, said: “Throughout the transaction, the professionalism and commitment shown by the Fenchurch team were exceptional. Fenchurch’s insight and senior level access into the insurance market ensured a highly satisfactory outcome for all of the shareholders, our colleagues and our clients.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Ryan Specialty Group (“RSG”) on the sale of Ryan Direct Group (“RDG”) to HPS Investment Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners.

RDG is a leading provider of insurance solutions to the UK general insurance industry with a particular expertise in the specialist personal lines sector.

Michael Rice, Managing Director of RSG, commented: “Fenchurch brought an intimate knowledge of the potential buyer universe for Ryan Direct Group and an in-depth understanding of the key valuation drivers for the business. Their clear guidance and strategic advice allowed us to execute a crisp sale process and deliver a successful outcome for all parties.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Primary Group on the sale of UK General to J.C. Flowers & Co. for an undisclosed consideration.

UK General is the UK’s largest personal lines MGA, offering specialist insurance products across the property, leisure & lifestyle, income protection, financial loss, motor financial, warranty, travel and personal accident categories.

Karen Beales, Managing Director of UK General, said: “Fenchurch’s in-depth knowledge of the personal lines insurance sector was critical in positioning the equity story for UK General. The level of senior engagement throughout the project was invaluable and helped ensure a successful outcome for all stakeholders in the business.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Unigestion on its acquisition of Akina Partners, the Zurich-based specialist private equity investment group. Akina manages $2.6 billion in funds of funds and managed accounts invested in small and mid-sized companies in Europe.

Akina will be integrated into Unigestion’s existing private equity business to create a leading private equity investment group with $6 billion in assets under management and 54 dedicated professionals.

Following completion, Unigestion’s total assets under management increased to more than $23 billion, of which private equity represents 25%. This expansion demonstrates Unigestion’s commitment to building a world-class multi-specialist institutional boutique asset management firm.

Bernard Sabrier, Chairman of Unigestion commented, “Throughout the entire Akina transaction, the support and guidance we received from Fenchurch was highly appreciated. During the most critical times of the negotiations in particular, their transaction skills and strategic views proved to be very helpful.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised EFG, the Swiss Private Bank, on the sale of EFG Independent Financial Advisers (“EFG IFA”) to Bellpenny.

EFG IFA has offices in London, Birmingham and Wolverhampton with £650m AUM.

The acquisition has increased Bellpenny’s AUM to over £3.5bn and EFG IFA will become the new independent advice arm for the group under the BIA Financial Planning brand.

Anthony Cooke-Yarborough, EFG Private Bank CEO, said: “Fenchurch demonstrated first class M&A execution skills and a sure touch in navigating stakeholder interests. Their deep sector expertise and intimate knowledge of the buyer universe were especially valuable in delivering a successful outcome.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Camellia Plc (“Camellia”) on the sale of Duncan Lawrie Asset Management (“DLAM”) to Brewin Dolphin for £28m.

DLAM is the wealth management subsidiary of Duncan Lawrie Private Banking, the private banking arm of Camellia, managing approximately £735m of assets on behalf of some 1,000 client relationships.

Tom Franks, Chief Executive Officer of Camellia, commented:

“We were impressed by Fenchurch’s commitment to this engagement. Their deep sector relationships, intimate knowledge of the UK platform sector and first class M&A execution skills were important factors in successfully delivering this transaction.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXA on the sale of its UK P&C commercial broker Bluefin Insurance Group (“Bluefin”) to Marsh for £295m.
 
Bluefin is a leading insurance broker, providing services to private individuals, small businesses, and large corporates in the UK, with approximately 1,500 employees based in 45 locations. It also operates a broker network and a growing MGA business.
 
Marsh will combine Bluefin with Jelf to create one of the UK’s largest insurance brokers for mid-size and SME companies, serving over 250,000 clients in 80 locations across the UK.
 
Fenchurch also advised Jelf on its sale to Marsh in 2015.
 
Amanda Blanc, CEO of AXA UK commented “Fenchurch helped us develop a bespoke and confidential process which resulted in AXA securing excellent transaction terms through an accelerated timetable whilst minimising execution risk”.

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised Legal & General on the sale of Cofunds to Aegon for £140m. Cofunds is the largest investment platform in the UK with £77bn AUA. The sale includes the Investor Portfolio Service which provides platform services to a number of building societies including Nationwide.
 
L&G concluded that Cofunds requires a significant upgrade in technology to exploit its leadership position in the UK platform market and this was best achieved under Aegon's ownership as a specialist wealth platform provider.
 
For Aegon UK this transaction completes its strategic transformation from traditional life insurance to platform business and follows L&G’s acquisition of a £2.9bn back book annuity portfolio from Aegon in May 2016.
 
Mark Gregory, Legal & General Group Chief Finance Officer commented: “We were impressed by Fenchurch’s commitment to this engagement. Their deep sector relationships, intimate knowledge of the UK platform sector and first class M&A execution skills were important factors in successfully delivering this transaction.”

Fenchurch is pleased to have advised AXA on three separate disposals of its UK Life & Savings businesses, comprising:

• SunLife, the Over 50s direct-to-consumer protection business, and Embassy, AXA UK’s non-platform investment and pensions business, to Phoenix Group;
• Elevate, the wrap platform business with c. £10bn of assets under administration, to Standard Life; and
• AXA Wealth International, the Isle of Man offshore bond business, to Life Company Consolidation Group (LCCG).

The aggregate consideration for all three transactions is €832 million.

Paul Evans, CEO of AXA UK and CEO designate of AXA Global Life & Savings and AXA Global Health, commented: “Fenchurch’s advice was important in planning and preparing for the complexity of one, two or potentially three disposals and related separation issues. Their trusted senior relationships, authoritative insights into the M&A market and deep sector expertise were critical to successfully orchestrating all three transactions.”