Brewin named as top UK takeover target

Brewin Dolphin has been named as a prime candidate to join the wealth management M&A merry-go-round by broker Liberum Capital.

Updating its UK takeover targets list, which has seen six out of 17 stocks bid for since initial publication in July 2014, Liberum said Brewin looks attractive on a number of levels. Its cost base and legacy issues have been "largely addressed", the broker suggested, adding that an improvement programme initiated by management - led by David Nicol, CEO since 2013, is bearing fruit. Liberum said a target profit margin of 25%, up from 15% in 2011, looks "assured", not least because of Brewin's continued business mix shift towards discretionary fund management. "We think a FY16 P/E [r...