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Interactive Investor completes acquisition of The Share Centre

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
06/07/2020

Interactive Investor, the UK’s second biggest direct-to-consumer investment platform, has completed its purchase of The Share Centre, taking its assets under administration to £36bn.

The deal for Interactive Investor to acquire Share plc was announced in February and was subject to shareholder, regulatory and legal approvals.

II this morning announced the firms are now operating under common ownership, making it the number one investment platform flat fee provider.

It said The Share Centre’s customers will benefit from II’s scale and allow customers a greater choice of shares and funds, with direct trading on 17 global exchanges.

However, there’s no change for customers just yet as it’s “business as usual” for both The Share Centre and II investors.

In the coming weeks, The Share Centre customers will receive updates setting out the next steps and until they’re migrated onto the II platform, they can continue to use the service as normal.

It added that all II and The Share Centre customers’ cash and investments continue to be covered by the Financial Conduct Authority Client Money and Asset Rules and protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Richard Wilson, chief executive officer of interactive investor, said: “I am very pleased to welcome The Share Centre to Interactive Investor, further strengthening the voice for flat fees. With our firms’ shared values and combined strengths, we will continue to invest in award-winning content and services for our enlarged customer base, all for a simple flat fee.

“We want to do as much as we can to make investing simple so more people can take control of their financial future. Having permanently scrapped exit fees two years ago and moved to a modern monthly subscription fee last year, where customers can choose the best price plan for them, in January we were also the first major platform to make regular investing completely free. In addition, in the past year we launched the ACE 30, the UK’s first rated list of ethical investments. We need to keep creating better and better content and services, underpinned by the same monthly subscription.”

Gavin Oldham, executive chairman of Share plc, said: “We are delighted that  customers of The Share Centre will benefit from the combined strengths of both businesses, further enhancing the high-quality customer service The Share Centre has prided itself on for many years. Having spent time with the II business in the lead up to today, it’s clear the two businesses are highly complementary and I am pleased that customers of The Share Centre will benefit from II’s similar low flat-fee structure, as well as its increased scale and focus.”