As an appointed representative of Corbel Partners, Wealth Design has worked closely with Corbel for several years. The acquisition is seen as a natural progression of their business relationship, as Wealth Design’s management team “seeks to build an effective succession plan for the business with no client disruption”, the firms said in a statement.
With Corbel seeking to grow its business through acquisition and technology investment, fintech bank Shawbrook has provided Corbel with an initial debt facility to support its acquisition of Wealth Design Holdings.
The debt facility provided by Shawbrook will also see Corbel invest in technology to modernise its onboarding and advisory processes for clients. Beyond the initial facility, Shawbrook will provide an additional debt facility to continue to support future acquisitions, with another two completing in May.
‘Ambitious’ plans
Initially starting as a traditional IFA practice, Corbel Partners was founded in 2004 by co-founders and directors David O’Hara and Paul Heath.
Since its inception, the business has expanded its capabilities – initially growing its advisory practice, before diversifying to offer a range of support services. Under its advisory arm, appointed representatives of Corbel currently service over 15,000 clients with assets under management (AUM) in excess of £2bn.
O’Hara said: “From day one, Shawbrook have been fantastic and acted as a natural extension of our team. At Corbel, we have ambitious plans for our future growth and business expansion which the team supported us with extensively – from financial modelling and compliance, to structuring a facility which closely aligned with our ambitions.
“We’ve been incredibly impressed with the work Shawbrook has put in to make this deal happen, who went above and beyond to ensure nothing was left unchecked.”
This story originated on our sister publication, International Adviser.
