Boutique advisor, Craven Street Wealth Ltd, is launched and immediately acquires two complementary financial advisory firms
- Craven Street Capital, the London based corporate finance business, has launched Craven Street Wealth, its wealth management business
- As part of the launch, the firm immediately acquired Kreston Reeves Financial Planning Ltd and Christchurch Investment Management Ltd
- Capital to finance growth and acquisitions were financed via £9.5m commercial loan from Shawbrook Bank
LONDON: 18/03/21
Boutique corporate finance advisors, Craven Street Capital, has launched Craven Street Wealth Ltd and immediately acquired two complementary independent financial advisory firms as it takes the first steps on its buy-and-build growth strategy.
London-based Craven Street Wealth has acquired Kreston Reeves Financial Planning Ltd and Christchurch Investment Management Ltd.
Craven Street Capital specialises in advising UK and international companies looking to conduct corporate activities such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), initial public offerings (IPO), private placement, asset sales, debt financing, seeding and corporate structuring.
Both Canterbury-based, Kreston Reeves, and London-based Christchurch provide a platform for the Craven Street Wealth business with a loyal client base and in-house discretionary fund management capability. Both firms bring to the table over £850m in assets under administration.
Shawbrook Bank supported the acquisitions through a £9.5m commercial loan.
Soondra Appavoo, CEO at Craven Street Wealth Ltd, said: “We are delighted to have acquired Kreston Reeves Financial Planning and Christchurch Investment Management to create Craven Street Wealth. Both businesses are well established with a real focus on client outcomes.
“Kreston Reeves Financial Planning is a high quality Chartered Financial Planning firm with a strong reputation across the South East. Christchurch Investment Management has an excellent investment track record and we believe there are real opportunities for the two business to work together for the benefit of clients.”
Soondra added: “As a specialist lender, Shawbrook understood our business and recognised the tremendous potential in our growth plans. We plan to work together to make further acquisitions over the next few years to create a substantial challenger in the financial planning and wealth management market.”
David Hurst, Managing Director at Kreston Reeves – which has been named a Citywire Top 100 IFA firm for the last six years – said: “We are proud of the business which we have built over the last 30 years, which has rightly gained a strong reputation for client service and professional advice. We are excited to be working with the Craven Street Capital team and Shawbrook Bank which collectively share our ambition of expanding the business to the benefit of clients and staff.”
Anthony Walters, Managing Director of Christchurch Investment Management, said: “We have a tried and tested investment approach which has delivered a strong track record over a sustained period. We believe that the combination of our business with Craven Street Capital and KRFP will create a group with shared ambitions and a real focus on delivering excellent client outcomes.”
Adam Agius, Director within Shawbrook’s Corporate Lending team, said: “Craven Street overall strategy is to create an advice platform spanning corporate finance and financial planning. The acquisition of both Kreston Reeves Financial Planning and Christchurch Investment Planning is their first step in achieving this goal.
“For Shawbrook, this was a strong opportunity to support the inception of an ambitious financial advisory group with deep expertise and tremendous scope for growth. We quickly recognised the potential of this project and moved quickly to support Craven Street Capital with the funding they required.”
Joe O'Brien
Corporate Communications and PR Manager
01277897488 OR 07585104961
joseph.o'brien@shawbrook.co.uk
About Shawbrook Bank
Shawbrook is a specialist UK savings and lending bank founded in 2011 to serve the needs of SMEs and individuals in the UK with a range of lending and saving products. We are a growing UK specialist bank that challenges the conventional approach of the mainstream banks, with our thoughtful and good-sense approach to the way we do business.
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