Staff at long-standing Bristol stockbroking firm Rowan Dartington are to share some of the proceeds of its multi-million pound sale to FTSE 100 wealth manager St James’s Place (SJP).
SJP is to pay £19m once the acquisition gains regulatory approval with a further maximum potential future payment of £15.2m based on future performance.
The sale marks a dramatic turnaround for Rowan Dartington. In 2010 the firm found a £1.4m black hole on its balance sheet due to back office failures over the previous three years. That resulted in a £511,000 fine by financial services industry regulators while the firm subsequently wrote off £1.1m. 
A year later the troubled firm was sold by owners Astaire Group to a consortium led by industry figure Graham Coxell, pictured, who was previously managing director of Capita’s Wealth & Distribution Outsourcing Division, prior to that, chief executive of Marlborough Stirling.
His backers included staff, including the current chief operating officer David Burrows, who together put up 15% of the funding for the acquisition.
Two years ago Rowan Dartington was hit by the departure of co-founder and head of business development Andrew Morris along with its award-winning Signature wealth management team, who then launched their own rival business in Bristol, Alpha Portfolio Management.
Rowan Dartington, which was originally launched in 1990, has since bounced back and has become a major regional broker and wealth management firm employing 100 staff, including 31 investment executives, across 10 offices.
From its head office in Bristol’s Colston Tower it provides specialist services ranging from advisory and discretionary investment management, as well as a broad range of stockbroking services. It has funds under management of more than £1.1bn.
Rowan Dartington executive chairman Graham Coxell said: “We are incredibly excited about the future. We feel this opportunity represents the best possible ‘next chapter’ in Rowan Dartington’s growth and development, and is complementary to the already extremely successful and broad proposition of the SJP group. 
“This opportunity will not only provide a strong platform for St James’s Place to provide discretionary fund management services to high net worth clients, it will also enable Rowan Dartington to continue to develop and support the propositions and services to our existing and new private clients, as well as the broader UK financial adviser market.”
Cirencester-headquartered SJP, which has £55.5bn assets under management and 21 offices across the UK, said the move would widen its range of investment services to existing clients and enable it to win new clients.
Chief executive David Bellamy said: “Rowan Dartington’s supplementary services, which include advisory portfolio management, direct equity, trust and charity portfolio management, will broaden the range of investment options we can offer to existing clients and enable us to access new clients who value such services
