The acquisition brings over 50 clients in the UK to Nucleus, along with £6 billion of assets under administration and an additional £40bn administered via Third Financial’s Tercero software system.

Nucleus Financial Platforms, which was formed in 2021 after James Hay Partnership’s acquisition of Edinburgh-based Nucleus Financial, already manages over £80bn in assets from 250,000 customers.

Nucleus will benefit from Third Financial’s proprietary technology, enabling an enhanced ‘adviser-as-a-platform’ proposition to meet the needs of larger businesses who want to offer their own platform.

Upon completion, the group’s platform assets under administration (AUA) is expected to be circa £90bn.

Richard Rowney, chief executive officer of Nucleus, said: “We’re delighted to announce the acquisition of Third Financial. By combining our scale, expertise and relationships, with their innovative technology, we’ll be able to offer a broader proposition to serve the needs of wealth managers and advisory businesses across the sector.

“We’ve long admired the team that Ian has built at Third Financial and what they’ve achieved. Their focus on innovation and client centricity has clearly differentiated their business, establishing them as one of the leading investment platform providers, and they will be a great addition to our group.”

Ian Partington, group chief executive of Third Financial, added: “A crucial factor in the decision to join Nucleus is that we feel very culturally aligned. Delivering excellence for our clients has always been core to our success, and in the Nucleus team we found that quality fully reflected.

“Now with our combined expertise and resource we can deliver even more to existing and future clients both in terms of products and service. Collectively our focus will remain on running a stable and profitable expanded service, continuing to support clients so they can deliver great outcomes for their customers.”