LDC backs MBO of UK workplace financial education and benefits specialist JPMorgan invest

Wealth At Work offers a unique product in the growing market for high quality financial education. Its services allow employees to maximise the value of their benefits, including linking company share schemes to pensions, income provision for retirees and financial planning for senior executives.

Set up in 2005, the business has its head office in Liverpool’s city centre and employs 47 people.

Its client base spans a number of sectors and includes major FTSE employers with over 200,000 employees.

As part of the transaction, a management team led by CEO David Cassidy has acquired the company for an undisclosed sum from J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

LDC has committed a multi-million pound capital investment to fund the deal and accelerate Wealth At Work’s future growth.

The transaction forms a key element of LDC’s strategy to invest £250million in 2009 and is the 11th deal completed this year, bringing the total amount of new equity committed to over £115million.

With LDC’s support, Wealth At Work is expected to have over £1billion of assets under management within the next three years and aims to continue growing its employee numbers.

David Cassidy said: “As a fast growing company we are very excited to have the backing of LDC, which will allow us to continuously deliver a superior offering to our clients in the rapidly changing employee benefits marketplace.

“The concept of flexible savings plans incorporating non-pension and pension savings in one place is gaining momentum. Wealth at Work is designed to help employers reduce the risk and cost of their financial benefits provision whilst simultaneously immensely improving the value of those benefits to their employees.

“JPMorgan Invest has built a strong operation which is well placed to capitalise on this growing market. We were looking for an acquirer with a strong reputation and in LDC, Wealth At Work has secured the backing of a major institutional investor with a proven track record in this sector.

“Major clients of Wealth at Work have been extremely supportive of this new move because of the new investment that will be provided to help us to develop further our market leading service. This will ensure Wealth at Work continues to innovate in a rapidly changing employee benefits marketplace.”

The deal was led by Ray Stenton and Catherine Houghton from LDC, both of whom will join the Wealth At Work board.

Ray Stenton, director at LDC in the North West, said: “The deal is a great example of the opportunities that exist in the market to acquire robust and scaleable businesses which are considered non-core by parent companies.

“Wealth At Work is a well-invested business that has the systems, infrastructure and people in place to grow rapidly in an area which is increasingly coming to the fore.

“It has a clear and distinct proposition which punches above its weight in the marketplace and boasts a strong management team which has been crucial in its success and will continue to lead its ongoing development.”

James Broderick, Head of Europe at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said: “JPMorgan Invest is an excellent business and we wish David and the team well under the new backing of LDC. Our decision to sell JPMI was made following a strategic review which concluded that we should concentrate on our core strength of managing assets for clients and building relationships with key distributors and institutional clients.

“Over the past few years we have appreciated the opportunity of being part of a business based in Liverpool due to the excellent facilities the area provides, and we would be happy to consider opportunities in Liverpool in the future.”

A cross-service line team from Deloitte advised LDC, with Andy Westbrook, Claire Frangou and Sebastian Lomax providing corporate finance advice and Richard Bell and James Bracewell conducting financial due diligence. Partner Richard Brown from Deloitte advised on the regulatory aspects of the acquisition.