Acquisitive Financial Planning and wealth management firm Kingswood has entered the Irish market with the acquisition of Moloney Investments Ltd (MMPI).

The acquisition is the seventh for Kingswood so far this year.

The move comes shortly after rival Fairstone also entered the Irish market.

MMPI brings £633.22m (EUR 700m) in assets under advice, taking Kingswood’s funds under advice to over £7.8bn across the UK and Ireland.

MMPI is a financial adviser based in Dublin and the firm’s 54 staff, including 18 advisers, will remain with the business.

The firm provides Financial Planning, general and protection insurance, investments, pensions and mortgage advice to mass affluent and high net worth individuals.

Kingswood is to acquire 70% of MMPI for EUR 25.8m (£23m). The remaining 30% will be retained by existing shareholders.

Post-acquisition, MMPI will continue to operate from its existing premises with the same day—to-day management team who have run the firm since it was founded in 1993.

The deal remains subject to regulatory approval.

Bryan Moloney, CEO a MMPI, said: "We are delighted to announce Kingswood’s investment in MMPI. This is an exciting development for the business providing additional expertise, capability, and funding to continue MMPI’s long term track record of both organic and inorganic growth, whilst supporting our vision of serving private and corporate clients with a best in class platform and service.

“Kingswood shares our vision and beliefs of empowering its employees to provide excellent client service and I am confident that their investment provides a great outcome for both our employees and clients alike.’’

The acquisition is the first move into the Irish market by Kingswood.

Kingswood said the Irish market presents further consolidation opportunities and is especially attractive due to sharing many market and cultural similarities to the UK with the mass affluent segment of the market experiencing persistent growth.

The Financial Planner and wealth manager said the acquisition also provides a product cross-sell opportunity. It plans on offering Kingswood’s in-house investment proposition to MMPI’s clients, and said Kingswood clients would benefit from access to MMPI’s insurance and other product distribution capabilities.

David Lawrence, CEO at Kingswood Group, said: "MMPI provides access to the attractive Irish wealth management market whilst also offering multiple new avenues for growth. Bryan Moloney and his senior team have done an exceptional job building MMPI into a successful, scaled, and differentiated financial advisory group with a reputation for exceptional client service. I look forward to working with Bryan and his team to continue the Kingswood growth story.

"As communicated in the announcement of our 2022 Interim results, in addition to MMPI we have a strong pipeline of activity with a further eight potential acquisitions in exclusive due diligence.”

Kingswood will finance the deal through a new debt facility which it expects to complete prior to the closing of its acquisition of MMPI

Kingswood Holdings Limited (trading as Kingswood) is an AIM-listed international fully integrated wealth management group with £9bn of assets under advice and management. It services 19,000 clients across the UK, South Africa, and the US.