DMH Stallard acted for the successful Independent Financial Advisory and Wealth Management business, Skerritt Consultants Limited (‘Skerritts’) and its founder, Richard Skerritt, on a significant investment by private equity ‘buy and build’ specialists, Sovereign Capital Partners. The deal is worth £55 million.
Founded in 1990, award-winning Skerritts deals with all areas of financial services. Headquartered in Brighton, the firm also has an office in the City of London, and manages c.£1 billion of client funds.
Sovereign Capital Partners is backing the management team who will continue to be led by founder and CEO Richard Skerritt, to develop the business through a strategy of organic and acquisitive growth.
Leading south east law firm, DMH Stallard, advised the sole shareholder, Richard Skerritt, and Skerritt Consultants Limited on the private equity investment. Abigail Owen headed the team at DMH Stallard, working closely with Vincent O’Brien, Kay Miles, Jonathan Crook and Will Walsh.
Abigail said: “We have known Richard for many years, and are delighted to have advised on this exciting next stage for him personally, and for Skerritt Consultants. This investment represents a great opportunity to accelerate the company’s growth and development. We wish Richard and the team every success for the future.”
Richard Skerritt, founder and CEO of Skerritts, said: “Abigail, Vincent and the DMH Stallard team adopted a pragmatic approach throughout our negotiations, and their calm and logical demeanour meant that we were able to keep on track without losing sight of our primary goal: to deliver exceptional service to our clients. With Sovereign’s support the future looks particularly bright, and we are looking forward to expanding our reach and enhancing our capabilities.”
EMC Corporate Finance were lead advisors on the transaction; Sovereign Capital Partners’ advisers included Pinsent Masons and KPMG.