Another practice for ipac SA

ipac south australia has announced the acquisition of Intervest Holdings, a seven-planner practice with $230 million funds under advice (FUA).

Intervest has been completely incorporated within ipac SA and all seven planners have stayed with the firm, according to ipac.

ipac south australia has now grown from $500 million in FUA two years ago to $1.2 billion, and now has 54 staff including 24 advisers, ipac stated.

Intervest managing director Shane Case said the move was in the best interests of clients, staff and shareholders.

"It's tough to be a medium-sized advice business in today's market place. We had grown beyond a small business but we were not large enough to benefit from the scale advantage of size," he said.

Linking with a local business provided the firm with new opportunities while being able to maintain personalised service to clients, he said.

There had been differing priorities among shareholders, with some preferring to forego short-term profit for long-term growth and others focused on a shorter time frame, but the succession solution with ipac accommodated all stakeholders, Case said.

Executive chairman of ipac south australia, Lou Delfos, said this was the fourth business that had joined ipac south australia since 2009, and he expected the current environment to continue to provide acquisition opportunities as Principals considered their options.

ipac south australia tailors its solutions to the needs of principals, some of whom want to keep working in the business while others don't, but all want a fair price for their business, he said.

"We've found our ability to pay cash for good businesses is proving very attractive. Today sellers want a cheque not blue sky."