STM Group completes £5.3m London & Colonial acquisition

AIM listed financial services provider STM Group has completed the acquisition of rival London & Colonial Holdings, ahead of the expected timeline, for about £5.3m in order to enter the self-invested personal pension (SIPP) market.

The acquisition is to be financed from STM’s cash resources and a new short term bank credit facility and is expected to be earnings enhancing in FY 2017.

The purchase of London & Colonial, which will continue to operate under its brand name and will be fully integrated, was conditional on the delivery the entire voting share capital and regulatory approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, with approval already received from the Financial Conduct Authority.

STM will now be able to accommodate returning British expatriates with a SIPP offering as well as growing the business in the country as both STM and London & Colonial will be able to access each other's networks.

London & Colonial’s UK SIPP business already has approximately 2,000 members and generates a turnover of about £1m and its Gibraltar life assurance business has about 1,200 policyholders and generates a net turnover of about £2m.

While its Gibraltar qualifying recognised overseas pension scheme business has about 300 pensions under management and is expected to be absorbed into the STM's own overseas pensions administration system.

The company is expected to roll-out an in-house technology platform in London and Colonial in the first quarter of 2017, which was designed to be compatible for the life assurance business, the overseas pensions and SIPP business and structured to lead to significant efficiencies and cost reductions.

Alan Kentish, STM chief executive, said: "We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of London & Colonial ahead of the expected timeline. This illustrates the enthusiasm from both sides to create an enlarged group with greater strength and a collective focus.

"London & Colonial is a very well respected business and one which can continue to prosper with the additional support from STM. We believe this is a clear case of the aggregate of the two businesses being worth significantly more than the sum of the parts."

STM, with operations in Gibraltar, Malta, Jersey and Spain, has an international pensions division which specialises in qualifying recognised overseas pension schemes and qualifying non-UK pension schemes.

Shares in STM Group were up 1.53% to 47.72p at 0809 BST.