Completion of Acquisition of London & Colonial

RNS Number : 1122N

STM Group PLC

21 October 2016

 

STM Group Plc

("STM", the "Company" or the "Group")

Completion of the acquisition of

London & Colonial Holdings Limited

STM Group Plc (AIM: STM), the cross border financial services provider, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of London & Colonial Holdings Limited ("London & Colonial" or "LCH") ("Completion") as announced on 13 September 2016 (the "Acquisition"), ahead of the expected completion timeline.

London & Colonial will continue to operate under its own brand name but will be fully integrated into the enlarged Group.  Completion was conditional on the delivery of 100% of the voting share capital and regulatory approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC), with approval already having been received from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).  All conditions have now been satisfied.

Highlights of the Acquisition include:

·     STM achieves its strategic objective of entering the UK SIPP market which the Board believes will be scalable; thus being able to accommodate returning UK expatriates with a SIPP offering as well as organically growing the business in UK

·     Both STM and LCH will benefit from accessing each other's intermediary networks

·     The Acquisition is being made from Group cash resources and a new short term bank credit facility and is expected to be earnings enhancing in FY 2017

·     LCH's UK SIPP business already has approximately 2,000 members and generates a turnover of approximately £1 million

·     LCH's Gibraltar life assurance business has approximately 1,200 policyholders; and generates a net turnover of approximately £2 million

·     LCH's Gibraltar QROPS business has approximately 300 QROPS under management, and is expected to be easily absorbed into the STM's own QROPS administration system

·     The Board believes that LCH has a good quality management team that will remain in place

·     Potential for redeployment of surplus regulatory capital to fuel further growth

·     Access to an LCH in-house technology platform expected to be deployed across the Group in the first quarter of 2017, designed to be i) compatible for both our life assurance business as well as our QROPS and SIPP business and ii) structured to lead to significant efficiencies and cost reductions.

Commenting on the Completion Alan Kentish, Chief Executive Officer of STM, said:

"We are very pleased to have completed the acquisition of London & Colonial ahead of the expected timeline.  This illustrates the enthusiasm from both sides to create an enlarged Group with greater strength and a collective focus.

"London & Colonial is a very well respected business and one which can continue to prosper with the additional support from STM. We believe this is a clear case of the aggregate of the two businesses being worth significantly more than the sum of the parts, and I look forward to updating the market on our progress in the near future."

The information communicated in this announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation 596/2014.

For further information, please contact:

STM Group Plc
Alan Kentish, Chief Executive Officer [e-mail]	Tel: [phone] www.stmgroupplc.com
Therese Neish, Chief Financial Officer [e-mail]	Tel: [phone]
FinnCap	www.finncap.com
Matt Goode / Emily Watts - Corporate Finance Mia Gardner - Corporate Broking	Tel: [phone]
Walbrook	www.walbrookpr.com
Tom Cooper / Paul Vann	Tel: [phone]
	Mob: [phone]
	[e-mail]

Notes to editors:

STM is a multi jurisdictional financial services group which is listed on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Group specialises in the delivery of a wide range of financial service products to professional intermediaries and the administration of assets for international clients in relation to retirement, estate and succession planning and wealth structuring.

Today, STM has operations in Gibraltar, Malta, Jersey and Spain. The Group is looking to expand through the development of additional products and services that its ever more sophisticated clients demand. STM has developed a specialist international pensions division which specialises in Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Schemes (QROPS), Qualifying Non UK Pension Schemes (QNUPS). STM has a Gibraltar Life Insurance Company, STM Life plc, which provides life insurance bonds - wrappers in which a variety of investments, including investment funds, can be held.

Further information on STM Group can be found at www.stmgroupplc.com

 

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