PAGAN Osborne, the Scottish law firm, yesterday confirmed it was in negotiations to sell its investment and financial advice businesses to Ashcourt, part of the Syndicate Asset Management group.
The £5 million deal – for St Andrews Asset Management and Pagan Osborne Independent Financial Advisers – is expected to be concluded at the end of the month.
It is understood that, under the terms of the proposed deal, Pagan Osborne would work in
partnership with Syndicate, with new and existing clients being referred to Ashcourt.
If the deal goes ahead, Pagan Osborne will carry on with its tax advisory businesses as well as continuing to operate its legal practice.
Ashcourt already has seven offices in England. The takeover would give the firm its first foothold in Scotland.
Syndicate's other companies include Epic Investment Partnership, Rowan, Savoy and Zenith, a Guernsey-based asset management company. In its preliminary full-year results, which were published on Tuesday, Syndicate reported pre-tax profits of £3.8m, an 84 per cent increase on the previous year.
The group's revenues rose by 41 per cent to £40.3m while its funds under management grew by 5.5 per cent to £57 billion.
Syndicate has made 11 acquisitions since it was launched in 2005, including three since March last year.
Pagan Osborne has more than 140 staff, including nine partners, led by Alistair Morris, its chief executive.
In a statement issued yesterday, Pagan Osborne said: "If all goes according to plan we expect the transfer to become effective at the end of August.
"Whilst Pagan Osborne has agreed, in principle, it will only happen if it is ultimately to the benefit of our clients, staff, and the firm's future. Until then, it is business as usual and clients have our continued commitment to our high standards of quality service and customer care."
David Pinckney, chairman of Syndicate, said: "The acquisition will add an extra £200m of funds under management or advice to Ashcourt. This acquisition will give us our first real presence in Scotland and provides a good base to expand further into the significant Scottish financial services market."
Pagan Osborne was founded in Fife more than 250 years ago. The firm has offices in Anstruther, Cupar and St Andrews, as well as a growing presence in Edinburgh, following the acquisition of Ketchen & Stevens' private client, agricultural and property divisions in 2004. Pagan Osborne later took over the private client team from Bell & Scott.
The full article contains 414 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
