Isle of Man-headquartered International Financial Group Limited (IFGL) has completed the deal to buy Sovereign Pension Services (UK) (SPS) from the Sovereign Group for an undisclosed sum.
This comes several months after International Adviser reported that IFGL agreed to buy the international Sipp and Ssas administration business of Sovereign Group.
SPS is based in Bromborough, Wirral. Established in 2003 as MW Pensions, it was acquired by Sovereign Group in 2016 and rebranded.
The company will continue to be based in Bromborough, Wirral, where it employs 45 staff. Work will now begin to rebrand SPS as IFGL Pensions by the middle of 2023.
‘Ambitious plans’
David Kneeshaw, IFGL chief executive, said: “We are delighted we can now officially welcome SPS into the IFGL family. We have ambitious plans for their future – as I said when we announced the deal last year, this is a strategic acquisition which will allow IFGL to provide a wider range of services and value to customers and advisers.
“There is a gap in the market for a service-led and cost effective Sipp proposition and SPS, soon to be IFGL Pensions, will be able to fill that gap.”
Sovereign Group chief executive Gerry Kelly added: “Our work with IFGL since the deal was announced in August 2022 has confirmed that we made the right choice to take the business forward and we wish IFGL and the dedicated staff of SPS every success in the next stage of their development.”
In January 2023, international private equity firm Cinven became the majority investor of the RL360, Ardan International and Friends Provident International parent company.
