JC Flowers funds bolt-on for MMC's Interactive Investor

The acquisitions of UK-based TD Wealth Holdings and Luxembourg-based TD Bank International will be financed by the buyout house, which will also take a majority stake in the combined group.

MMC, which is the largest shareholder in Interactive Investor, will retain its existing stake in the company on completion.

Following the deal, Interactive Investor CEO Adam Seale, chairperson Hugo Van Vredenburch and chief financial officer Barry Bicknell will take on the same roles in the enlarged business. John Tracy, the CEO of TD Bank's direct investing division, will remain active in the company for a transitional period.

The transaction is intended to create a challenger to Hargreaves Lansdown, which currently has a market cap of £5.8bn. Following the deal, the combined group will have assets under administration of £18bn, compared with Hargreaves Lansdown's £61.7bn.

Previous funding
MMC provided Interactive Investor with £1.8m of growth capital funding in January 2011. At the time, the company focused primarily on its financial media operations, though the venture capital firm cited the retail brokerage market – in which Interactive Investor was also already active – as a key area for growth.

Company
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Glasgow, Interactive Investor is a financial media and online trading platform.

According to publicly available documents, the company generated a turnover of £16.3m in the year ending June 2015 – up from £14m at the time of MMC's initial investment – with an annual loss of £817,000. It has grown its headcount from 81 to 143 during the same period.

TD Bank is a Canadian bank that was founded in 1852. The TD Wealth Holdings division is headquartered in Leeds, while TD Bank International is headquartered in Luxembourg.

People
MMC Ventures – Bruce Macfarlane (managing partner).
Interactive Investor – Adam Seale (CEO); Hugo Van Vredenburch (chairperson); Barry Bicknell (chief financial officer).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Financials
• United Kingdom
• MMC Ventures
• JC Flowers
• Build-up