AND Capital Projects – M&A Advisory for UK Wealth Management Firms

Brave Are the Visionary

Private, Strategic, & Visionary Business Sales for UK Wealth Management Firms

AND Capital Projects (ANDCP) is an independent, service-led M&A studio specialising in private / off-market transactions across wealth management, financial services, technology, legal, and adjacent professional sectors. Headquartered in the West Midlands, we operate nationally across the UK and Ireland, with an expanding international client base in Australia, the UAE, and the United States.

We currently represent in excess of £1bn in Assets Under Management (AUM) for sale within the wealth management market, acting for founders and principals who prioritise control, discretion, and long-term alignment over volume-driven processes. Our work is defined by three core principles: relationships, integrity, and impact.

Since July 2024, ANDCP has advised sellers and acquirers across the UK and Ireland, engaging with approximately 6% of all firms later reported by FT Adviser as completing transactions in the 2024/25 wealth management cycle—achieved with minimal public outreach and without reliance on open-market mandates. Our model is intentionally selective: typically acting only for clients known to us or introduced via referral or recommendation.

Speak to an Advisor

Verso Wealth’s Acquisition of Everlong Wealth Management

We are pleased to announce the successful sale of Derby based Everlong Wealth Management to Verso Wealth, completing on 19 December 2025.

This transaction marks the culmination of a multi-year relationship and a carefully structured partnership founded on alignment, trust, and long-term strategic intent.

A Relationship Built Over Time

ANDCP’s Principal, Steve McLean's involvement with Everlong began in autumn 2022, following an introduction to Mr. Paul Hamilton. From the outset, we were struck by Paul personally and by the discipline, integrity, and quality of the Everlong business. It was evident that this was a high-calibre wealth management practice, requiring a buyer capable of protecting its culture while supporting its next stage of growth.

Verso Wealth was already well known to McLean, following his work as Head of M&A at FS Legal from 2021. Under the leadership of Mr. Simon Redgrove, Verso had re-entered the wealth management sector with a renewed proposition focused on high-quality advice, technology, and scalable infrastructure.

Mr. Redgrove was previously co-founder and managing director of Cavanagh Group, which he built from inception in 1996, floated on AIM in 2001, and ultimately sold to Close Brothers in 2012.

FS Legal had also advised on the sale of Pavis Financial Management Limited to Verso in January 2022, providing early insight into Verso’s evolving acquisition strategy and operating model.

Structuring a Strategic Partnership

In early 2023, McLean brought the parties together in London to explore a partnership with a clear pathway to acquisition. From the first meeting, there was strong chemistry and strategic alignment. McLean subsequently worked closely with Verso to structure a transaction that met the objectives of both parties.

The Everlong board prioritised security, clarity, and continuity. An initial structure was agreed providing 90% consideration on completion, with the remaining 10% deferred over two years. As part of the transaction, Mr. Hamilton has committed to remain with the business, assuming a senior leadership role overseeing Verso’s Central Regions, with both equity participation and long-term alignment.

Navigating Complexity with Discipline

The transaction faced two significant external delays:

Verso’s backers temporarily redirected capital toward a larger acquisition outside wealth management, resulting in a six-month delay.
The FCA imposed a further 14 months of regulatory and funding-structure changes, increasing cost and complexity across the sector.

In response, the deal structure was pragmatically revised to 60% on completion, with the remaining value payable over two years to preserve alignment while ensuring the transaction remained robust and executable.

Successful Completion

Despite these challenges, Verso completed the acquisition of Everlong on 19 December 2025 for £9 million, adding £300 million+ of client assets and taking Verso’s total assets under management to approximately £2.3 billion.

This transaction reflects a core philosophy: patient dealmaking, disciplined structuring, and an unwavering focus on alignment, legacy, and long-term value particularly when the path to completion is complex.

Schedule A Discovery Meeting

SERVICES

Our team helps you consider and execute your options for sale expertly and privately.

EXIT READY

Structured 90-day methodology to clarify sales vision, prepare diligence-ready data, reduce execution risk, strengthen valuation, and test your sale narrative with seasoned acquirers.

COMPASS

Strategic advisory for founders navigating transaction uncertainty, transition and complex decision-making. Most commonly used to manage internal dynamics, including shareholder or staff alignment, as well as external challenges such as integration breakdowns or deferred payment disputes.

LEAP

Premium sell - side advisory for complex mid-market firms seeking a discreet sale process. Robust data and valuation review, controlled due diligence preparedness and implementation, targeted buyer relationships, transaction structuring, and disciplined negotiation.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Our collab with TalkAI Global to design and build AI systems from expansive research to agents will define what we and our clients do over the next 1–5 years.

ORGANIC GROWTH

Building long-term partnerships with institutions, charities, and communities to expand access to financial advice and enable organic client growth beyond acquisitions.

FEE SUMMARY

We Offer Two Budget Models

Retained Advisory Mandate: Performance linked allowing for deeper involvement and targeted execution. Total average fee - 3% of consideration.

Flat Initial Fee: Incorporated within a 4–6% success-based mandate, weighted for transaction complexity, risk, and deferred consideration.

REQUEST OUR SERVICE SHEET

Why We're Different

We Represent Mavericks

We proudly represent mavericks. Often, bold, engaging, and sometimes eccentric leaders in their space. Principals who have refused to copy others and have built businesses around conviction. Sellers whose charging structures sit at the extremes of the market, such as 0.3 % or 1.5 % Ongoing Adviser Charge (OAC), and who can explain, defend, and own that position.

We have found that the ability to stand out does not make clients a liability, however losing their edge does.

We create opportunity for our clients by identifying the right buyer audience and clearly articulating why their distinct brand, offer, and positioning works. That is how we win mandates and shift mindsets.

Our clients are most often idealists or philanthropists by nature. They are good men and women who see the world differently.

We're Investing in You

Our collaboration with TalkAI Global, alongside a small number of aligned financial, government, and legal specialists, has helped us grow organically while serving clients through technology-led innovation. We are now empowering sellers to take control of their advisory experience through our soon-to-launch platform and a trusted network of acquirers.

We Tell It As We See It

The Plot, our insight on "how to sell a company" is established to give our companies the inside information they need when contemplating big ventures to tackling crisis. We offer actionable insights and strategies drawn from real-world M&A experiences. The Plot is dedicated to the memory of Julie Wilson, whose inspiration, resilience, and forward-thinking vision were instrumental in shaping its creation.

Read M&A 2026

Read What if Selling is the Wrong Move?

Steven A. McLean

Principal

Michael Ramsay

Operating Partner & Chief AI Officer

Our Work in 2026

M&A remains one of the most complex and consequential moments in a business owner’s life. It is often accompanied by risk, distraction, and unseen compromise. Too many sellers still enter the process under-prepared—only to face valuation disputes, cultural misalignment, protracted due diligence, and outcomes that fall short of what their life’s work deserves.

In 2026, our work as a team is focused on transforming that reality. We exist to bring clarity, control, and calm to business owners, founders, and principals operating in the low- to mid-market individuals for whom a sale, merger, or strategic partnership represents the most important transaction of their career. These are people who have spent decades building enduring firms and who value discreet, trusted guidance at a moment that defines both value and legacy.

Our work is relationship-led and long-term by design. Most of our engagements arise through direct recommendation or long-standing connection, reflecting the confidence placed in us by clients and the wider market. Some come to us navigating complex disputes involving hundreds of millions in assets under management; others simply need space, perspective, and a trusted conversation to find clarity. We treat both with the same seriousness and care.

In 2026, we are actively shaping a quieter, more disciplined M&A environment, one built around alignment rather than urgency. We work with established acquirers, consolidators, and carefully selected new entrants who share our belief that great deals are not rushed, commoditised, or imposed, but thoughtfully constructed in service of sellers’ long-term intent. We have also embedded artificial intelligence into our advisory approach. Through our partnership with TalkAI Global, our clients will benefit from sharper insight, cleaner analysis, and more efficient outcomes, freeing then for the human judgement matters in complex transactions.

Let's Work

We won’t chase deals. We won’t run auctions. We won’t dilute our clients mission.

If you know your business requires that level of attention, begin the conversation.

Schedule a Private Conversation