Rickitt Mitchell advises on Talbot and Muir sale

Curtis Banks, one of the UK’s leading SIPP providers, is delighted to announce that it has entered into agreements to acquire Talbot and Muir Limited (“Talbot and Muir”) for an initial consideration of £16.5 million.

Curtis Banks has agreed to acquire Talbot and Muir, the SIPP and SSAS provider, for a total consideration of up to £25.25m.

The Group is separately announcing this morning an equity placing to raise gross proceeds of up to approximately £25 million (the “Placing”).

Talbot and Muir is a high-quality provider of SIPPs and SSAS products, with a strong market reputation, reinforcing Curtis Banks’ position as a leading SIPP provider. Talbot and Muir delivers additional scale through 6,600 plans, Assets under Administration (“AuA“) of approximately £3.6bn as at 31 December 2019 and their existing IFA relationships

The acquisition of Talbot and Muir is conditional on regulatory approval and completion of the Placing.

A team at Manchester-based Rickitt Mitchell, led by partner Neil Mitchell and including Adam Lovell and Rob Bennett, advised Talbot and Muir on the sale. The firm has demonstrated a strong track record for advising high growth management teams, working on high profile transactions for Van Elle, NCC Group and Veincentre in recent years.

Neil Mitchell said: “It was a pleasure working with the high calibre shareholder management team at Talbot and Muir. Graham, Brian and David have built one of the leading pension administration businesses in the UK, and this quality was highlighted by the level of interest in the company throughout the process.

“In Curtis Banks, we have found a buyer with the scale and strategic vision to take Talbot and Muir to the next stage of its growth journey, and we look forward to see the enlarged group develop over the coming years.”

Graham Muir, Talbot and Muir founder and shareholder, said: “As a business, we recognised the significant opportunity that Curtis Banks provides to scale up our operations and improve technology, but retain the personal approach to pensions administration that our business was founded on.

“In a competitive sale process, Rickitt Mitchell played a key role in managing the transaction. This not only minimised any disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, providing maximum value for shareholders, but also achieved a strong outcome in the sale to Curtis Banks, ensuring that the future of the business passed to a good home.”