Palatine backs secondary Wealth at Work buyout
Financial education specialist Wealth at Work, based in Liverpool, has undergone a secondary management buyout backed by Palatine Private Equity.
Palatine has provided equity funding, alongside the management team led by chief executive David Cassidy, to acquire the business from private equity firm LDC. Cassidy said the "significant investment" from the deal would allow the company to continue to grow quickly and help meet the demand for its services.
Wealth at Work offers education and wealth management services to such clients as British Telecom, BP and Marks & Spencer. The company has educated more than 30,000 employees covering a range of subjects from pension limits for high earners to share scheme diversification and redundancy to retirement planning.
Gary Tipper, Ed Fazakerley and Beth Houghton made up the deal team for Palatine, with Tipper and Houghton joining the Wealth at Work board. Palatine said it would work with the management team to identify acquisition opportunities as well supporting its organic growth.
"Regulatory change and the need for employers to drive more employee engagement is driving demand for Wealth at Work services," said Tipper. "This is creating significant opportunities both organically and via strategic acquisition in a fast changing market."
LDC originally backed the buyout of JP Morgan Invest from JP Morgan Asset Management in 2009 and renamed Wealth at Work. It has retained an interest in the business.
Catherine Houghton, investment director at LDC, added: "With additional growth funding, the business has the opportunity to turbo charge its development. LDC is very excited about the prospects for the business and we wish the management team every success in the next phase of development."
Andy Westbrook from Deloitte provided corporate finance advice, with Chris Heatlie from BDO carrying out the financial due diligence. Rebecca Grisewood and Kate Richards from Gateley provided legal advice to Palatine, while Jonathan Robinson from Eversheds and Stephen Devlin from DLA advised LDC and management respectively.
Commercial due diligence was carried out by Edison Investment Research with Marsh undertaking insurance due diligence.
