HWL Ebsworth recently acted for Viridian Financial Services Group (Viridian) in entering into a sale agreement to acquire part of Westpac Banking Group’s personal advice business, BT Financial Advice.

The deal represents a significant expansion of Viridian’s financial planning business, with offers made to around 175 BT Financial Advice salaried advisers and other management and support staff.

Viridian is a national, independent financial advice firm, founded by ex-Westpac advisers. The deal team was led by David Woodford and Adeline Hiew, with assistance from Laura Young, Nathalie Ng and Alasdair Fairbairn in the Corporate team, and Matthew Craven (Intellectual Property/Information Technology), Mark Howard and Jonathan Nguyen (Employment Law).

HWL Ebsworth were pleased to be able to assist Viridian on this significant acquisition, and expansion journey, which represents a real shift in the way financial advice services are provided in the market – towards independent, advisor owned practices.