interactive investor to acquire D2C customer book from Equiniti

The deal increases ii’s UK platform market share and cements its position as a market leader.

• The EQ retail investment book is a direct-to-consumer flat-fee execution-only broking service under the EQi brand
• Expected to expand the ii platform to circa £50 billion AUA, and over 400,000 customers
• Provides additional scale to support further investment in the ii platform, to the benefit of customers
• EQi customers will benefit from ii’s:
• Focus on long-term investing support with its no-nonsense subscription fixed-fee pricing, and award-winning ISAs and SIPP pension products.   
• Commitment to service, with Trustpilot score at 4.6, a sector high.
• Industry-leading access to US/international markets, and the ability to invest and hold cash in foreign currency.
• Award-winning dealing service, original content and insight, all delivered through a best-in-class technology platform.
• Rated investments methodically selected for their performance potential (the Super 60) and ethical credentials (the ACE 40) based on transparent, unbiased research.
• Financial and operating resilience of one of the UK’s leading financial institutions.

Interactive Investor (“ii” or “the Company”), the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform and number one flat-fee provider, has agreed to acquire the direct-to-consumer retail customer book from EQ, for a total consideration of up to £48.5m, subject to post-completion adjustments. 

The deal increases ii’s UK platform market share and cements its position as a market leader. It follows a year in which we have seen record levels of new customer subscriptions and asset flows.

The EQi brokerage business is flat fee and customers will continue to benefit from interactive investor’s flat fee model as well as being part of a robust and focused business. 

ii is committed to informed investment choice and value for its customers. In an increasingly technology-driven environment, increased scale supports ii’s commitment to value, and the continuous investment required in technology, skills and customer experience.

ii is majority owned by funds advised by J. C. Flowers & Co, a leading private equity firm. ii currently has assets under administration (“AUA") of £45 billion and over 350,000 customers. It has corporate net assets of £200m, and no debt. On completion of the transaction, assets under administration are expected to increase to £50 billion and over 400,000 customers. Both ii and EQi’s customers will benefit from ii’s increased scale, financial strength and profitable business model.

ii has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. The Company completed the acquisition of TD Direct Investing in 2017, ATS in 2019, and Share plc in 2020, successfully migrating tens of thousands of Share Centre customers onto its platform in early February 2021. This latest acquisition will see ii acquire the EQi book of customers.

Richard Wilson, CEO of ii commented: "I am delighted to announce the acquisition of EQ’s retail investment business and look forward to welcoming EQi customers to the ii platform, where we hope they will benefit from our no-nonsense fixed-fee pricing, commitment to service and continuously developing technology and content.

“This marks another important milestone in the ii story, having brought together five established investment businesses within the last four years to create a single market-leading platform that offers the retail investor real choice and value.

“We feel privileged to serve EQi customers and, as a matter of course, if, six months from migration, we find that they would have paid less under EQ’s charging model, we will refund the difference.”

Taylor Wessing were ii’s legal advisers.

Stephens were EQ’s financial advisers and DWF were EQ’s legal advisers.