Howden has acquired mortgage advice firm SPF Private Clients. The purchase solidifies a “long-established trading relationship” between the firms.
The international insurance broker said the deal extended its reach into the mortgage broking market while enhancing its existing general insurance and wealth management offering, including its high net worth and private client focused businesses.
SPF will now join Howden’s UK & Ireland business, with Mark Harris remaining as CEO. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
It added the acquisition further underpins its commitment to invest in the UK economy and its 110 A-Plan branded high street branches, and follows last year’s acquisition of Aston Lark.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
SPF was formed in 2011 after a management buyout and rebrand of Savills Private Finance, the financial arm of Savills, before Cabot Square Capital acquired a majority stake in the business in 2018.
The intermediary specialises in residential and commercial mortgage broking, commercial real estate insurance, high net worth personal lines insurance, property title insurance, life assurance and associated wealth management consulting.
Mark Harris, CEO of SPF said: “SPF and Howden are highly complementary businesses that focus on providing the best solutions to our clients while always putting our people first.
“SPF will benefit from the significant opportunities that being part of Howden will deliver, with a big drive into offering our debt product lines across the group. We will carry on doing what we do best, ultimately enabling us to develop products to best serve our clients while allowing our talent to flourish.”
Carl Shuker, CEO of Howden UK & Ireland, said: “SPF is a stand-out business in its sector and is a strong addition to our Howden UK & Ireland business.
“Both businesses share cultures that are founded on entrepreneurialism and empowerment, and both are passionate about delivering the very best outcomes for our clients.
“With SPF, the recent acquisition of A-Plan and the upcoming completion of Aston Lark, Howden UK & Ireland will be a leading end-to-end insurance distributor capable of supporting all of our clients, whatever their insurance and mortgage needs, underpinned by market-leading digital and data capability.”
Tarun Sharma, partner at Cabot Square Capital, said it had been a privilege to partner with the SPF team.
“We are delighted with the outcome and are confident SPF will continue to thrive as part of Howden,” Sharma added.
Deloitte acted as financial and tax due diligence adviser and RPC as legal adviser to Howden on this transaction. KPMG Corporate Finance acted as adviser to SPF shareholders. HSF acted as legal adviser to Cabot and Taylor Wessing acted as legal adviser to management shareholders on this transaction.
