Close Brothers Group

Close Brothers Group plc is a UK merchant banking group which provides lending, takes deposits, manages wealth and trades in securities. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History
Close Brothers was founded in 1878 by William Brooks Close and his brothers Fred and James Close, who started offering farm mortgages in Sioux City, Iowa. In 1897, William Brooks Close paid £10,000 to the US government for the right to build Alaska's first railway the White Pass and Yukon Route.

The company was the subject of a management buy-out in 1978 and was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. In the 1980s and 1990s, the company expanded through the acquisition of a specialist businesses including Winterflood Securities in 1993, Hill Samuel's Corporate Finance Division in 1996 and Rea Brothers (established 1919) in 1999.

In March 2008, Close Brothers acquired UK short-term and bridging lender Commercial Acceptances Group for around £31m. In December 2008, it was confirmed that Close Brothers Private Equity would be spun off as CBPE, and, in May 2009, it was announced that the corporate finance business was to be acquired by Daiwa Securities SMBC, a Japanese investment banking venture, leaving Close Brothers focused on capital markets, securities trading, lending and investment management.

Close Brothers disposed of Close Brothers Seydler Bank AG, its securities business in Germany, to Oddo et Cie in 2014, and sold Close Brothers Retail Finance to Klarna, the Swedish online financial service provider, in September 2018.

In July 2021, Close Brothers acquired PMN Financial Management for an undisclosed amount. The Surrey based independent financial advice firm brought £300m of assets with it. In September 2023, Close Brothers acquired Bluestone Motor Finance, an Irish provider of motor finance, and, in December 2023, Close Brothers agreed to acquire Bottriell Adams, an independent financial advisor (IFA) based in Dorset, England, for £220 million.

Operations
Close Brothers Banking division lends to small and medium-sized businesses and individuals and offers deposit taking.

Winterflood, a market maker in the UK, trades in relevant MTFs and major dark pools and covers nearly all LSE listed stocks, as well as Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange.

The company's chief executive is Adrian Sainsbury, who has been in the role since September 2020. The company faced criticism over the size of his pay increase in November 2021. Its board has been chaired by Mike Biggs since May 2017.