Citigroup’s acquisition of the London-based firm Quilter has cost it an extra 20m, according to the Financial News. A wealth management firm inside Morgan Stanley, Quilter was put up for sale for 210m earlier this year, but Citigroup paid an estimated 230m.
Morgan Stanley sold the business to focus on clients worth more than $10 million.
“The sale is the result of our strategy to focus our UK wealth management effort on [the] high net worth and ultra high net worth market segments,” says James Gorman, head of wealth management at Morgan Stanley.
“Quilter is an important step in establishing a meaningful presence in the UK, with an excellent platform to support the further growth of our private bank and international Smith Barney businesses,” says Todd Thomson, Citigroup’s global chief executive of wealth. Quilter’s CEO Martin Baines will run the business and report to Marianne Hay, Citigroup wealth management chief executive in Europe, and John Langley, international head of the bank’s Smith Barney franchise.