ii agrees sale of ATS advisory and partnership business
The agreement in principle 'is a good result for all concerned'.
28th October 2019 15:15
by Jemma Jackson from interactive investor
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The agreement in principle to sell the advised and partnership businesses of Alliance Trust Savings to Embark Group 'is a good result for all concerned'.
interactive investor ("ii" or the "Company"), a market-leading UK retail investment platform, is pleased to announce an agreement in principle to sell the advised and partnership businesses of Alliance Trust Savings ("ATS") to Embark Group ("Embark") for an undisclosed amount.
The divestment will affirm interactive investor's focus on serving the UK direct-to-consumer ("D2C") market. The sale includes the transfer of all ATS staff and buildings.
ii completed the acquisition of ATS from Alliance Trust PLC in June 2019. The acquisition brought together the UK's 2nd and 7th largest retail investment platforms with combined assets under administration of £30 billion.
ii successfully completed the migration of the ATS' D2C customers onto the interactive investor platform on 14 October 2019.
Commenting on the divestment, Richard Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of interactive investor, says: "I am delighted with this outcome. It is a good result for all concerned.
"Embark is the right partner to take the advisory and partnership business forward, with Dundee remaining an important platform and employment centre. The ATS jobs have been protected which was a key consideration and I have no doubt they will take the business from strength to strength.
"The divestment will allow ii to focus on its single purpose: to serve the self-directed retail investor, and the increased scale means we can continue to invest in providing a class leading customer experience, excellent value and a wealth of impartial information to help customers make better-informed investment decisions."
Phil Smith, Embark Group Chief Executive, says: "This acquisition presents a perfect opportunity to accelerate our growth strategy by acquiring a book of platform assets with high SIPP penetration, as well as complementary distribution relationships. This takes our group AuA to well in excess of £22 billion and reinforces our position as one of the fastest growing disruptors in the UK investment savings and platform market. It also offers an excellent opportunity to establish a centre for our operations and growth in Scotland, enabling us to access local talent and FinTech capabilities, assisted by cross-government support."
Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills says: "Embark's plans to retain the site in Dundee is good news for employees and for the economy of the city. The Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Scottish Development International have been working closely with the company and will continue to provide support going forward."
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