Davy ups presence in North by acquiring Square Seven

Davy Stockbrokers has acquired Northern Irish wealth management firm, Square Seven Financial Planning, which has 400 clients and £75m (€89m) of assets under management for an undisclosed fee.

The move increases Davy’s foothold in the North. It opened an office there in 2007 and has 10 people working in its private client’s division.

“During 2013 Davy Private Clients (NI) grew its assets under management by over 20%, excluding market growth,” said Stephen Felle, managing director of Davy’s Belfast office.

“Additionally, our Belfast office was last year awarded the tender for one of the largest public service investment management contracts in Northern Ireland.

“Northern Ireland is a material part of Davy’s overall private client business, and we see it as an area of key strategic growth in the coming years.

“We will continue to review further potential acquisitions in Northern Ireland such as that offered by Square Seven. Furthermore, the UK-centric investment, operational and regulatory processes we have established in Northern Ireland gives Davy the platform to assess growth opportunities into the wider UK mainland, and to build out our service offering to IFAs in Northern Ireland and Great Britain.”

Davy, which is the largest stockbroking firm in Ireland, has made four acquisitions over the past two years. It took over the private client and asset management businesses of Bloxham Stockbrokers in May 2012.

Last November, it bought Prescient Investment Managers and the investment consultancy, iCubed, earlier this month.

Davy is believed to be in the final stages of buying back its €140m IBRC loan. The firm organised a €330m loan from Anglo Irish Bank in 2006 to fund a management buyout. The stockbroking sector was hit hard in the financial meltdown in 2008.

However, it weathered the storm and is profitable.