Raymond James is confident that the acquisition would provide significant benefits to all stakeholders
Raymond James to acquire Charles Stanley. (Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.)
Raymond James Financial, Inc. (NYSE: RJF) today announced its firm intention to make an offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of U.K.-based Charles Stanley Group PLC (LSE: CAY) at a price of £5.15 per share, or approximately £279 million ($387 million as of July 28, 2021). The transaction, subject to U.K. Financial Conduct Authority and Charles Stanley shareholder approval, is expected to close in the calendar fourth quarter of 2021.
“We have long admired Charles Stanley’s reputation, heritage and its talented pool of wealth managers and professionals,” said Raymond James CEO Paul Reilly. “The two firms share a common, and increasingly rare, client-centric approach whereby the primary client relationship is held by the individual wealth managers. We both offer employed and self-employed affiliation models, while Raymond James also provides platform services, enabling the flexibility that wealth managers value. Further, Charles Stanley meets Raymond James’s historical acquisition criteria, in particular as an excellent strategic fit with a complementary culture.”
The combination would provide Raymond James with the opportunity to accelerate growth in the U.K., the second-largest English speaking wealth management market; and, through Charles Stanley’s multiple affiliation options, will give Raymond James the ability to offer wealth managers affiliation choices consistent with its model in Canada and the U.S.
The addition of nearly 200 Charles Stanley wealth managers would greatly accelerate the growth of Raymond James U.K.’s newly-launched employee affiliation model while building on its market leading independent contracting and investment management platform services businesses.
Charles Stanley would add approximately £27.1 billion (June 2021) in client assets, bringing Raymond James’s total client assets in the U.K. to over £40 billion.
The combined businesses create operations with the scale to support expansion and flourish in a highly competitive and consolidating U.K. marketplace.
Raymond James will seek to leverage the respective strengths of Charles Stanley and Raymond James through further investment in technology, infrastructure and back office partnerships to further enhance the firms’ already strong offering in wealth management and create benefits through scale, broadened expertise and enhanced solutions.
Raymond James is confident that the acquisition would provide significant benefits to all stakeholders, and that, with further investment, would strengthen and enhance the range of services available to both Raymond James Investment Services (“RJIS”) and Charles Stanley’s wealth managers and their respective clients.
RJIS will continue to operate in the U.K. as a separately branded and managed subsidiary of Raymond James. Raymond James does not expect the acquisition to create a significant restructuring or result in the need for staff reductions at either firm.
Raymond James expects Charles Stanley to continue operating as a separately branded firm, doing business as Charles Stanley, a Division of Raymond James, and will operate as a stand-alone division and subsidiary maintaining its existing offices throughout the U.K. and its corporate headquarters in London. Sir David Howard, Charles Stanley’s former Chief Executive and current Chairman, will remain Chairman of Charles Stanley. Paul Abberley and Ben Money-Coutts will continue as Charles Stanley’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively. Peter Moores, Raymond James U.K.’s Chief Executive Officer will have overall responsibility for the respective U.K. businesses of Raymond James and Charles Stanley. Other than Sir David Howard, Raymond James expects to replace some or all of Charles Stanley’s other non-executive directors following the completion of the Acquisition.
Source: Company Press Release