A formal announcement has been made today to the effect that Caledonia Investment Trust plc have acquired a majority shareholding in 7IM, subject to approval by the Financial Conduct Authority.
We have been working with 7IM for several years, we know the company well and have very good relations with the Executive Directors. 7IM provide a range of passive funds, which we continue to recommend, and their electronic custodial service is one of a small number that we use in association with our in-house Mastertrust investment service.
Therefore it is important to explain what has happened and its implications for those of our clients that use the 7IM services while the shareholders in the company, since 2007, have been Zurich, Aegon and the management of 7IM, the business has been independent of the two corporate shareholders.
We are aware there were many interested bidders, we also know the ideal profile of the new investor 7IM were seeking and in our view the announcement today is an excellent outcome. Caledonia Investments has been a privately owned, independent business since 1878, it is financially very strong (the Investment Trust assets are £1.6 bn) and their management culture is aligned with that of 7IM. The management and senior staff continue to be shareholders and we expect the business to continue to operate to the same high standards as in the past. For our part therefore, we are very comfortable at the outcome.
John Millican
Managing Director
22 June 2015