Martin Gilbert’s Assetco is poised to strike more deals in the asset and wealth management space thanks to a £31m windfall from successfully suing its former auditor, Grant Thornton.
According to an update published on Monday, the firm received the final payment of a £30.5m settlement from Grant Thornton for damages relating to negligent audit of Assetco’s accounts for the years ended 31 March 2009 and 2010.
As such, the firm showed a profit before taxation of £22.3m compared with a £700,000 loss in 2020.
Gilbert (pictured) joined Assetco in January when he and a group of investors, including former Aberdeen Standard Investments global head of private markets Peter McKellar and Toscafund Asset Management, backed plans to transform Assetco from a fire engine leasing business into a corporate vehicle for dealmaking in asset management and financial services. Gilbert was made chairman of Assetco in March.
Writing in the update, Gilbert said Assetco had been looking at several “organic and inorganic” proposals for expansion in the asset and wealth management sector and is at various stages of discussion and negotiation.
“The focus of this work is on areas of the asset and wealth management sector where the board believes that, due to the structural changes impacting the sector, attractive opportunities for investment exist. The board is hopeful of being able to announce further activity in the short term.”
Assetco acquired a 2.9% stake in River and Mercantile in January and February, before announcing in May it was buying Edinburgh based equity boutique Saracen Fund Managers in a deal worth £2.75m.
It also recently announced the hire of Gary Collins, previously of Columbia Threadneedle, to develop the distribution strategy for Saracen.
The firm’s net assets at the end of March were £31.1m, up from £28.4m at the end of 2020. This primarily comprised the recent £10.8m investment in River and Mercantile Group shares, where the company holds 5.85% of the issued equity share capital and £20.3m in cash.
