M&A Services and Consulting - Thistle Initiatives

We help firms reduce risk while executing successful M&A transactions.

Our M&A services team offers end-to-end, hands-on support across M&A consulting, compliance and due diligence, and integration management. Our edge is our people; a mix of former front office advisers, ex-regulators, compliance experts and change management leaders.

Whether you’re acquiring, preparing to go to market, or navigating post-merger change, we focus on what matters: identifying risk, protecting value, and making complex decisions simpler.

Harry Cotton
Partner and Head of M&A

We help firms reduce risk while executing successful M&A transactions.

Our M&A services team offers end to-end, hands-on support across M&A consulting, compliance and due diligence, and integration management. Our edge is our people; a mix of former front office advisers, ex-regulators, compliance experts and change management leaders.

Whether you’re acquiring, preparing to go to market, or navigating post-merger change, we focus on what matters: identifying risk, protecting value, and making complex decisions simpler.

Harry Cotton
Partner and Head of M&A

End-to-End M&A Solutions Tailored To You

We offer comprehensive expertise throughout every stage of the mergers and acquisitions process, providing pre, during, and post-M&A support.

M&A Consulting

Whether you’re looking to buy, sell or restructure, our business transformation experts can help you navigate this growth with confidence.

From shaping strategy to managing risk, we work alongside legal and financial advisers to ensure change is delivered effectively and compliantly. Our support is practical, fast moving and focused on protecting long-term value.

Our team combines decades of regulatory and change management expertise with first-hand, front-office experience to mitigate risk and drive commercial outcomes.

Our support includes:

Deal structuring input to reduce regulatory friction
Pre-deal strategic fit and operating model assessment
Regulatory and governance due diligence
Integration planning and execution oversight
Talent retention strategy and cultural integration
Post-close assurance

Acquisition Due Diligence

If you’re looking at acquiring a regulated firm, our expert team can help. We offer a range of acquisition due diligence services to help you fully understand the regulatory risk any potential transaction may pose.

Initially, we will work to understand your requirements and the proposed transaction.

We’ll then conduct an initial scoping exercise, looking at the target firm’s senior management controls, culture, regulatory history, and its financial exposure to legacy acquisition liabilities, advice or management of assets.

We will also consider any potential exposure to ongoing service liabilities in line with the FCA’s current focus.

Our core values are to:

Reduce regulatory exposure
Strengthen governance
Protect customer outcomes
Enable transactions

Integration and Change Management

Our Change & Transformation team supports firms once the deal is done. With years of experience in post-merger integration, we help align governance, strengthen controls, and embed cultural change.

Whether you’re integrating teams, rationalising platforms, or reshaping governance, we bring a commercial mindset and hands-on delivery expertise to make sure change is not only managed but fully embedded.

With a proven track record across complex post-M&A integrations, we bring strategic clarity, delivery rigour, and a commercial mindset that ensures transformation delivers real business value. We embed change that lasts.

Our support includes:

Integration of governance frameworks and control environments
Cultural alignment across teams and leadership
Adviser onboarding and certification uplift
Process enhancement and operational redesign
Remediation planning and implementation support
Post-deal audits
Ongoing support for regulatory uplift and strategic transformation

Learn more here.

Financial Crime Prevention
in M&A

Financial crime compliance is no longer a nice to have in M&A. It is a critical part of understanding the true value and risk of an investment.

As the old saying goes “the cost of non compliance, is more expensive than the cost of compliance”. During acquisition due diligence, firms need a clear view of how effective the target’s financial crime framework is.

The FCA expects firms to have strong systems and controls, and any weaknesses can lead to enforcement or business restrictions. Remediation can be expensive, sometimes running into hundreds of thousands. To make informed decisions and set the right fees, firms need an accurate picture of the target’s framework and any likely remediation costs.

Pre-transaction

We know M&A discussions can run long before due diligence is needed, and when the time comes, firms need support fast:

• We develop risk-based scopes proportionate to the target and deal size.

• We deliver assurance in the timelines required.

• We offer flexibility on output, either red-flag report or comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the target’s financial crime framework.

Post-transaction

Where weaknesses are identified, effective remediation is essential to reduce the risk of regulatory scrutiny:

• We identify the root cause of gaps to ensure any issues identified are remediated appropriately.

• We enhance key financial crime compliance documentation, including policies, procedures and risk assessments.

• We design of appropriate three lines of defence models to mitigate the risk of systemic issues crystallising.

• We create and deliver financial crime training programmes.

How We Have Helped Our Clients

CASE STUDY: Supporting Titan Wealth Group in a Landmark Acquisition

Overview

Thistle Initiatives supported Titan Wealth Group in its acquisition of Independent Wealth Planners, creating one of the UK’s largest independent wealth management businesses.

Our Roles

We carried out comprehensive Acquisition Due Diligence and provided strategic advice to manage the complexities of integrating IWP into two authorised trading entities.

Key Deliverables

Conducted detailed Acquisition Due Diligence to identify and mitigate compliance risks
Delivered a post-merger integration plan tailored to a highly regulated, client-centric industry
Addressed unique operational challenges to ensure governance, controls, and cultural alignment
Supported seamless transition while safeguarding compliance and client outcomes

Impact

Our expertise enabled Titan Wealth Group to achieve a smooth integration, reducing regulatory risk and ensuring the new business could operate confidently within FCA expectations. This approach was critical in addressing the unique challenges of combining operations in a highly regulated, client centric industry.

Harry Cotton
Partner and Head of M&A

Harry supports growth across all areas at Thistle Initiatives, with a particular focus on guiding clients and advisors through M&A in the Wealth space.

Prior to this, Harry served as a British Army Officer and later transitioned into Private Banking and Wealth Management, where he worked as a growth focused proposition lead and client advisor across a range of businesses. He also holds the Investment Advice Diploma and is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments.

Jessica Cath
Managing Partner

Jess has also conducted multiple US monitor and s166 Skilled Person reviews globally, and has a Masters Degree in Intelligence and International Security and holds an ICA diploma in Financial Crime Prevention.

Partner and Head of M&A

Harry supports growth across all areas at Thistle Initiatives, with a particular focus on guiding clients and advisors through M&A in the Wealth space.

Prior to this, Harry served as a British Army Officer and later transitioned into Private Banking and Wealth Management, where he worked as a growth focused proposition lead and client advisor across a range of businesses. He also holds the Investment Advice Diploma and is an Associate member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments.

Partner, Investments

Alex joined Thistle Initiatives in 2015 after two decades of working with complex financial products. Alex's diverse experience in financial services includes roles across front office trading and dealing, management, and consultancy, offering valuable insights into FCA compliance and regulations.

As a former proprietary trader, Alex handled various financial instruments, transitioning from open out-cry to various trading platforms. Additionally, Alex served as a Compliance Business Analyst, supporting multi-asset trading teams. Alex's expertise extends to FCA compliance auditing, oversight, and advisory services on enforcement actions and MIFID audits. Alex holds a CISI diploma in investment compliance and a CFA certificate in investment management.

Senior Manager and M&A Lead

Dorian has over 30 years’ experience in banking and financial services, with a particular focus on regulated financial advice.

At Thistle, he helps lead our M&A Services workstream, with particular focus on the wealth management and investments industry.

In addition to his degree in Economics and Business Administration, he is Level 4 and Level 6 adviser-qualified, including pension transfer advice. A Chartered Fellow of the CISI, he has previously held FCA Control Function positions (CF10, CF11, and CF30) at various firms, including fund managers and advisers.

Managing Partner, Financial Crime, Payments and Digital Assets

Jessica is a financial crime leader, working with a range of firms to build, scale and assure all elements of the financial crime framework. She has worked with start-ups to Tier 1 Banks to transform controls through growth phases or when facing regulatory enforcement.

Jess has also conducted multiple US monitor and s166 Skilled Person reviews globally, and has a Masters Degree in Intelligence and International Security and holds an ICA diploma in Financial Crime Prevention.

Partner, Credit & Mortgages

Having completed several qualifications with the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), Matt is a Credit & Mortgages Partner at Thistle Initiatives.

He specialises in providing expert guidance to firms entering the financial services market, with a particular focus on credit and mortgage products.

Matt’s extensive knowledge and hands-on experience enable him to support clients through the complex regulatory landscape, from initial market entry to the successful launch of new products, ensuring compliance and strategic alignment at every stage.

Partner, Insurance

Nikki Bennett has re-joined Thistle Initiatives as a Partner in the Insurance team, working alongside Matthew Williamson.

Formerly Managing Director at UKGI, she brings extensive expertise in Delegated Authority markets, MGAs, InsurTech and product development, with a proven record of delivering practical, solutions-driven outcomes for insurance firms.

Nikki also continues to serve as a Director at the Association of Professional Compliance Consultants (APCC).

Senior Manager

Lizzie joined Thistle Initiatives in January 2024 as a Senior Manager in the Investments Team. She supports our M&A Services team, bringing strong compliance expertise to businesses looking to buy or sell. She also has deep knowledge of the digital assets landscape and provides practical guidance to firms operating in this evolving space.

Before joining Thistle, Lizzie held senior Compliance Advisory roles across the Investment Management sector, where she delivered hands‑on support to firms navigating regulatory change and day‑to‑day compliance challenges.

Partner, Change and Transformation

Joe is a Partner in Thistle Initiatives’ newly formed Change and Transformation team, helping organisations navigate complex change with clarity and confidence. He has extensive experience working with, and within, many of the UK’s leading wealth and investment management firms to help them with enterprise strategy or deliver operating, product and technology objectives.

Joe began his career as a discretionary manager at Barclays Wealth, before moving into consultancy in 2016 to specialise in the buy-side sector, working predominantly with private client firms. He joins Thistle Initiatives from Alpha FMC, where he was a Partner and senior member of the Wealth Management and Private Banking segment.

Partner, Change and Transformation

Sam has 14 years’ experience leading large scale change and transformation programmes in the Financial Services industry, working with several Tier 1 institutions across Banking, Insurance and Wealth and Asset Management. Sam started his career at KPMG before moving to Capco in 2017, where he was part of the Banking and Payments Leadership Team.

He has led numerous Regulatory Change programmes including remedial responses to s166, Consumer Duty and Operational Resilience. As well as this he also has vast experience delivering pre- and post- deal transformation programmes related to M&A activity such as new target operating model design and implementation and post-merger integration.