Houlihan Lokey Advises Solomon

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Solomon Capital Holdings Ltd. (Solomon), a new advice and wealth management group in the UK, has raised capital from J.C. Flowers & Co. (J.C. Flowers). Solomon has subsequently acquired two national advice firms, Beaufort Group and Gale and Phillipson, in the first stage of a strategy to build out an integrated national advice and wealth management business.

Solomon was founded in 2020 by former Quilter Financial Planning CEO Andy Thompson and CFO Darren Sharkey. J.C. Flowers has backed Solomon to carry out a buy-and-build strategy in the UK independent financial advice market.

With Beaufort Group, which includes Beaufort Financial and YOU Asset Management, and Gale and Phillipson at its core, Solomon’s model is to acquire other successful regional firms to create an integrated network of hubs serving in excess of 50,000 clients across the UK. Solomon is set to provide all businesses with the resources and support to confidently implement their ambitious growth plans to develop their long-term proposition and exceptional service for clients and advisers.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to Solomon and assisted in initiating, marketing, structuring, and negotiating the transaction. This deal highlights Houlihan Lokey’s long-standing reputation as a leading advisor within the wealth management sector, which has recently included transactions such as the investment into Saltus from Preservation Capital, sales of Ascot Lloyd to Nordic Capital, Wren Sterling to Lightyear Capital, Cardale Asset Management to Titan, Stadion to Smart, Formue to IK and ICG, and the acquisition of James Hay and Saunderson House through IFG Group.