Review Site Snapped Up By Defaqto-Owner Fintel in £7.5m Deal

VouchedFor, the UK’s leading review site for financial advisers and mortgage advisers, has been snapped up by Fintel, the leading provider of business and regulatory support services to the UK retail financial services sector, with the help of Shakespeare Martineau’s East Midlands team.

Worth more than £7.5 million, the deal will see Fintel grow the VouchedFor review platform, launch more services for advisers, and enhance its client offering. Its senior leadership will remain involved in the business to ensure a continuity of service for VouchedFor’s clients and consumers.

Established in 2011, VouchedFor provides a free-for-consumer database of more than 350,000 client reviews of professional advisors.

Fintel provides technology, compliance and regulatory support to thousands of intermediary businesses, data and targeted distribution services to hundreds of product providers through its SimplyBiz brand. The fintech provider – which owns household-name star-rating service Defaqto – also supports consumers to compare and buy financial products.

Adam Price, executive chairman at VouchedFor, said: “There is a clear synergy between VouchedFor’s service and those offered by Fintel. We both work with advisors with the consumer front of mind, holding integrity, honesty and quality at the heart of every decision. With Fintel’s infrastructure and backing, the platform can reach its full potential.”

The deal involved the sale by 48 shareholders, including current employees and management.

Having acted for Mr Price, Shakespeare Martineau corporate partner Michael Squirrell said: “We are delighted to complete this deal on behalf of Adam, working closely in conjunction with other advisors and shareholders (including Samos and Octopus) to provide an aligned and strategic approach to the transaction.

“This completion would not have been possible without a huge team effort from the VouchedFor management team. We look forward to seeing the platform go from strength to strength.”

The Shakespeare Martineau team comprised Michael Squirrell, Ashley Taylor, Nana Maisuradze, John Maple, Chris Royals, Huw Witty, Charlotte Cassells and Danielle Lister.

Toby Ramsden and Sam Esser of Sequence Advisers provided corporate finance advice to Mr Price. Eversheds and BDO acted for Fintel.