Interactive Investor Agrees to Buy Alliance Trust Savings from Alliance Trust Plc

LONDON and DUNDEE, Scotland, October 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

• The acquisition brings together the two largest fixed price investment platforms  
• Creates a platform with £35bn of AUA, 400,000 customers, and more than 1m users 
• Creates scale benefits for both sets of customers in an increasingly technology-driven sector  
• ATS customers will benefit from ii's: 
  • Best value pricing in the UK for portfolios over £50,000
  • UK's best international dealing service offering twice the choice of other platforms across multiple currencies 
  • Award-winning original content, insights and news delivered through best in class technology, products and services  
  • Financial and operating strength of a focused long-established UK investment platform 

Interactive Investor ("ii" or "the Company"), the UK's second largest investment platform, has agreed to acquire Alliance Trust Savings ("ATS"), from Alliance Trust PLC, for a total consideration of £40m subject to post completion adjustments, and includes Alliance Trust's office building in Dundee, where ATS is based. The transaction brings together the two largest fixed price retail investment platforms, combining the content and digital capabilities of ii with ATS' well-established adviser business and its investment trust heritage.

ii is committed to championing informed investment choice and value for its customers. In an increasing technology and data-driven environment, increased scale will support ii's sustained investment in technology and talent, enabling the provision of the best customer experience and service in the sector.

ii is majority owned by JC Flowers and currently has £90m of net assets, with assets under administration ("AUA") of £20 billion and more than 300,000 customer relationships. On completion of the transaction, this is expected to increase to £35 billion of AUA and 400,000 customers. Both ii and ATS customers will benefit from ii's increased scale, financial strength and profitable business model. By leveraging ii's growing scale and financial strength the Company will be well placed to make further investment in technology, products, staff and customer services.

ii has a strong track record of acquiring, integrating and investing in complementary platform businesses. The Company successfully completed the acquisition of TDDI in 2017, and last October acquired and integrated the white label share-dealing businesses from Trustnet Direct, Telegraph Investor, The Motley Fool and SharePrice.

Richard Wilson, CEO of ii commented: "This is another important step in our ambition to build the UK's best investment platform. The acquisition brings together the country's two largest fixed price providers, adding significant scale to ii, and reinforcing our ability to deliver excellent choice, value and service to all our customers."

Lord Smith of Kelvin, Alliance Trust PLC's Chairman, commented: "The Board is pleased to announce the sale of ATS to Interactive Investor. The two businesses are highly complementary and ATS customers, many of whom are Alliance Trust shareholders, will benefit from Interactive Investor's similar flat-fee structure, as well as its increased scale and focus. A key consideration for the Board was a commitment to maintaining ATS' presence in Scotland. We are therefore very pleased that ii plans to invest in ATS' Dundee operating centre."

Rothschild is advising ii on the acquisition of ATS and Evercore is advising Alliance Trust PLC.The sale is subject to regulatory approval from the PRA and FCA.

About interactive investor  

interactive investor (ii) is the UK's number one flat fee investment platform. ii offers a wealth of unbiased information, analysis, tools and expert ideas to help customers make better informed investment decisions. ii's award-winning trading platform provides access to an extensive choice of markets, instruments and currencies within Trading, ISA and SIPP accounts. This comprehensive investing service is underpinned by a strong focus on delivering great value for investors demonstrated through an innovative and competitive pricing model - featuring simple, flat fees and unique 'trading credits'.

Since 2013 the investment platforms market has almost doubled in size to £500bn AUM, with an extra 2.2 million customer accounts opened in the same period. ii has approximately 10% of the UK direct to consumer investment platform market.  http://www.ii.co.uk

About ATS 

Alliance Trust Savings is a leading provider of SIPPs, ISAs and Sharedealing Accounts. The business was launched by Alliance Trust PLC over 30 years ago and now administers £16bn of assets across over 110,000 customer accounts (as at 30 June 2018). Alliance Trust Savings has won numerous awards for its products and services and is a founding member of KickStart Money, a ground-breaking project with fifteen other leading UK financial services companies and the Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA) to deliver much needed money skills to thousands of primary schoolchildren across the UK.