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UK investment firm Brewin Dolphin has moved to double down in the Republic by buying the local wealth management business of Investec in a deal worth €44 million.
The Investec wealth management arm, which has €2.9 billion of assets under management and advice, posted €17 million of revenues for the year to the end of March, which is understood to equate to between 20 and 25 per cent of the total generated by the Irish business for the period.
Brewin Dolphin, which entered the Irish market in 2011 through the acquisition of Tilman Asset Management, will have €4.6 billion of assets under management and advice in the market on completion of the Investec deal, which is subject to regulatory approval. That will make it the fourth-biggest wealth manager in the State, after Davy, Goodbody and Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland.
Brewin Dolphin chief executive David Nicol said the deal would allow it to "substantially" strengthen its presence in the Republic.
“This acquisition, which is consistent with our strategy of growth in assets under management, provides us with an exciting opportunity to strengthen substantially our existing presence in the Republic of Ireland, one of Europe’s fastest growing economies,” he said.
Some 33 Investec investment staff and 19 support employees will transfer to Brewin Dolphin (Ireland) under the transaction, bringing its total workforce to 84.
The Investec wealth arm was acquired as part of its acquisition of NCB in 2012 and has grown significantly since then. Investec’s other Irish businesses are unaffected by the sale.
Investec Europe
Meanwhile, it is understood that the London-based Investec group has injected about €40 million into a newly-licensed Dublin-based unit, called Investec Europe, which will house most of the remainder of its Irish business following Brexit.
Until now, this business, which includes treasury and trading services, corporate finance, ventures capital and private clients lending, has operated as a branch of the UK group.
Investec Europe is authorised under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), meaning it will not be allowed to hold customer deposits or make loans. Investec Ireland has in recent times been winding down its deposits business, which once had €1.3 billion of customers’ money.
It is believed that the company is also seeking Central Bank approval to set up retail credit firm so that it will be able to continue to lend after Brexit.
