Macdonald Henderson has advised the shareholders of Campbell Thomson Insurance Services Limited (Campbell Thomson) on its disposal to Verso Wealth Management (Verso), the portfolio company Cairngorm Capital Partners LLP (Cairngorm Capital).
The acquisition advances Verso’s strategy to build a market leading, national wealth management group and takes its assets under management to over £1 billion.
Founded in 1978, Campbell Thomson is a second generation firm providing specialist financial advice and planning for businesses and individuals across the UK.
With a reputation for outstanding service, the firm has a team of 13 advisors, planners, researchers and support staff based in Glasgow. Campbell Thomson is providing advice on assets exceeding £315 million as at Q2 2022.
Campbell Thomson is the fifth acquisition by the Verso platform and the first in Scotland, expanding its advisory proposition and reach across the UK. Stewart Thomson and Euan Bottomley, Campbell Thomson’s owners, will remain in the firm working with Verso’s executive team to expand Verso’s presence across Scotland.
Andrew Fay, Verso’s Chief Executive said, “I am delighted to welcome everybody at Campbell Thomson to the group. It is an exciting time to join Verso as our plans begin to gather pace.
With the support of our strategic partners, Cairngorm Capital Partners and their buy, build and transformation expertise, we are pursuing an ambitious consolidation plan, to build a market leading wealth management group with capabilities in financial advice and investment management, powered by the Verso platform. Campbell Thomson forms an important part of this.”
Stewart Thomson, Director of Campbell Thomson, added, “We are delighted to be joining Andrew and the team at Verso as the Verso model overcomes many of the challenges and inefficiencies in our market.
We will be able to relinquish our day-to-day regulatory and operational hurdles and focus on what we do best – providing our clients with the very best advice available. We view our partnership with Verso as a key part of our future growth strategy.”
Neil McGill, Managing Director, who led Cairngorm Capital’s team on this investment, said, “Campbell Thomson is an excellent company with a well-deserved reputation for outstanding service. It demonstrates all that we like in a partner firm – strong performance, differentiated service and an excellent management team.
About Macdonald Henderson, Mr Euan Bottomley, Director of Campbell Thomson, commented:
“We are delighted with the outcome which has been reflective of all the hard work, excellent counsel, and advice from David Beveridge, Hilary Malone and all the team at Macdonald Henderson.
It has been a pleasure working with MH as they steered us through the difficult process in a calm and confident manner”.
We are delighted to be able to support Verso’s continued growth and are excited about further expansion opportunities in the pipeline”
We are pleased to have advised the shareholders of Campbell Thomson on this exciting transaction, and wish all stakeholders in the combined business every success for the future.
Cairngorm Capital and Verso were advised on this transaction by Ernst & Young (financial and tax), Thistle Initiatives (regulatory) and Burness Paull (legal). Campbell Thomson was advised by Consilium (financial and tax) and Macdonald Henderson (legal)
