Advising on interactive investor's £1.5 billion sale to abrdn

We have advised the shareholders of interactive investor, the UK's leading subscription-based direct investing platform, on its £1.5 billion sale to abrdn, the global investment company and asset manager.

interactive investor is a longstanding client whom we have supported on all of its M&A activity including its acquisitions of TD Direct Investing, Alliance Trust Savings, The Share Centre and a direct-to-consumer retail customer book from Equiniti as well as advising on the sale of Internaxx to SwissQuote and the disposal of the non direct-to-consumer business of Alliance Trust Savings to Embark. interactive investor's majority shareholder was J.C. Flowers IV L.P. (a fund advised by J.C. Flowers & Co.) which came on in 2017.

Founded in 1995, interactive investor has been helping investors for over 25 years by providing a secure home for their pensions, ISAs and investments. This comes with an industry-leading selection of investments and a team generating up-to-date expert insights. As the UK's number one subscription-based investing platform with a strong reputation as a consumer champion, it has assets of £55 billion under administration and more than 400,000 customers. 

Headquartered in Edinburgh with operations across the globe, the FTSE 100 asset manager abrdn offers investment expertise across all key asset classes, regions and markets. It currently manages and administers £532 billion of assets for its clients.

This acquisition and the integration of interactive investor's high-tech model will enable abrdn to build on its lead in the personal wealth market. It will also expand its customer reach, allowing it to meet a broader range of client behaviours and needs. abrdn is committed to interactive investor's open-architecture, subscription-based model and it will operate as a standalone company within the Personal vector.

Commenting on the transaction, corporate partner Tandeep Minhas said: "interactive investor has long led the way in the UK direct investing market and we are delighted to have advised our longstanding client on this landmark deal, which required us to leverage expertise from across the firm. We look forward to continuing our support of the business and seeing it build on its leadership position in the market as part of abrdn."

Richard Wilson, Chief Executive Officer of interactive investor, added: “This sale is an exciting new chapter in our history and means that we can focus exclusively on serving those who matter most: our customers. We are extremely grateful to Taylor Wessing for fielding an experienced transactional team to support us seamlessly in delivering this complex transaction in a challenging timeframe. The team provided exceptional guidance throughout and their in-depth knowledge of our business was invaluable."

The transaction was led by corporate partner Tandeep Minhas with support from:

Corporate

• Russell Holden, Partner
• Charlotte Whalley, Senior associate
• Suzy Davis, Senior Associate
• William Zhang, Associate
• Shaun Brewster, Associate
• Nick Vollers, Trainee
• Francesca Moore, Paralegal

• Skigh Milne, Paralegal
  
  

Employment, Pensions & Mobility

• Paul Callaghan, Partner
• Mark Smith, Partner
• Colin Godfrey, Senior counsel 
• Vikki Wiberg, Senior counsel
• Joe Aiston, Senior associate
• Afshan Mallik, Senior associate

• Ruth Moffett, Associate
  
  

Commercial, Tech & Data

• Sian Skelton, Partner
• Kelly Burke, Senior associate

• Mary Rendle, Associate
  
  

Tax & Incentives

• Ann Casey, Partner
• Anna Humphrey, Partner
• Richard Carson, Consultant

• James Stewart, Senior Counsel
  
  

Financial Services Regulatory & Competition

• Charlotte Hill, Partner
• Paolo Palmigiano, Partner
• Louisa Penny, Senior counsel
• Arnav Gupta, Associate 
• Katie Fry-Paul, Associate
• Olivia Turner, Trainee

Disputes & Investigations

• Tim Strong, Partner