£13.5bn Newcastle wealth management house breaks into Irish market with acquisition

Newcastle headquartered wealth management house Fairstone has announced the acquisition of Dublin based PAX Financial, marking its entry to the Irish market.

Financial planning firm PAX employs 66 staff and advisors, offering a range of financial services for over 7,700 clients. Additionally, the acquisition secures funds under management of €200m (approx. £174m).

PAX is also behind the well-established and hugely successful brand ‘AskPaul’, which offers jargon-free financial advice to consumers via social media channels. The service has been a unique player on the Irish landscape, combining expert insight with an innate understanding of digital trends to serve its target market.

Commenting on the deal, Lee Hartley, CEO of Fairstone, commented: “We are delighted to welcome PAX into the Fairstone family. We have been looking to expand into the Irish market and in PAX, we have found the perfect partners to deliver this growth.

“The combination of Fairstone’s extensive experience in the UK sector with PAX’s management team, presence and local market knowledge, makes for a powerful partnership and opens many exciting opportunities.

“We both share the same values around ambition, growth and delivering first class client outcomes and I believe that with Paul, Ian, Conor and the management team at PAX, we have found long-term business partners who will play a key role in the next part of our journey. Together we want to shape the future of financial advice in the Irish market.”

PAX CEO Paul Merriman, who will now take on responsibility for Fairstone in Ireland as CEO, added: “The decision by Fairstone to acquire PAX is a measure of confidence in the Irish market and represents an exciting opportunity for the Irish consumer.

“Thanks to the hardworking team at PAX, we have spent over a decade developing our business and reach in order to facilitate a move such as this. The relationship with and support of Fairstone will further accelerate this growth in the months and years ahead.

“I would also like to welcome Fairstone into our home and look forward to continuing to work with the PAX team as we deliver on our collective promise to preserve, plan and protect the financial future of our clients.”

Headquartered in Newcastle with more than 1,000 people across 40 UK-wide locations, Fairstone is the number one ranked wealth management firm on Trustpilot and oversees £13.5bn FUM for over 50,000 wealth clients and 40,000 mortgage clients.

Earlier this year Fairstone celebrated three major milestones: securing its 50th acquisition, notching up 10 years of M&A activity and exceeding £100m of revenues.

By Matthew Neville – Correspondent, Bdaily

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