TLT advises Hartley Pensions on two acquisitions of SIPP & SSAS books

TLT has completed two significant acquisitions for Hartley Pensions Limited's self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs) business.

TLT advised on Hartley’s acquisition of the SIPP business of Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Limited from administrators. This was a time-critical transaction that added approximately 3,900 clients to Hartley's rapidly growing portfolio.

This deal comes after Hartley’s acquisition of the SIPP and SSAS books from GPC SIPP in August.

Antonia Silvestri led the TLT team on both acquisitions, with support from corporate associate Henry Male. Additional support was provided by Philip Collis, Ed Pitt, Harry Parker, Mark Braude and Andrée Parker. Legal Directors Damien Garrould and Richard Leigh advised on the pensions and trust law aspects of the transactions.

Denis McHugh CEO of Hartley Pensions says: “I am very grateful to the TLT team for guiding us through these acquisitions. Their deep understanding of our value drivers, plus their determination to deliver was key to the success of this transaction.”

Due to the high profile background of one of the targets, the FCA were particularly interested in both transactions and closely engaged with the innovative transaction structures that were proposed.

Noline Matemera, partner in TLT's Financial Services Regulation team, says: "Both transactions involved complex and unique aspects of pensions, trusts and tax law. The team achieved an excellent result for the client in a highly compressed timeframe, clearly demonstrating the calibre and quality of our SIPP and SSAS experts.

"Our specialist knowledge and expertise in corporate accelerated acquisitions, regulatory and technical pensions and trust law was instrumental in getting the transactions over the line, with the rare blessing of the FCA."