Funeral firm Farewill welcomes Dignity acquisition
Thu, 17 Oct 2024 | BUSINESS SALE
Funeral specialist Farewill is being bought for £13 million by former London-listed rival Dignity.
Farewill, founded in 2015 by chief executive Dan Garrett and Tom Rogers, offers a range of services such as online will writing and probate application. It also provides direct cremations without a service.
According to its most recent accounts for the year to July 31, 2023, the company made a gross profit of £3.4million, up from £1.8 million in 2022. Its loss before taxation dropped to £4.2 million from £8.4 million the previous year.
Dignity, cancelled its listing on the London Stock Exchange in May last year and is now an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Valderrama Ltd – a joint venture between SPWOne and Castelnau Group.
Dignity is buying Farewill for an enterprise value of £12.9 million financed through a share-for-share exchange. The majority of Farewill shareholders will become Castelnau shareholders. In exchange Castelnau will up its holding in Valderrama. Completion of the acquisition is subject to FCA approval and is not expected to occur before 1 January 2025.
Dignity hopes the deal will help broaden its customer base, enhance customer experience, expand its product offering, add new technology and expertise.
"The addition of Farewill to Dignity's offering embodies Castelnau's strategic ambitions for Dignity, helping Dignity to drive its digital transformation and serve its customers even better,” said Richard Brown, chief executive of Castelnau. "Adding Farewill's will and probate services to Dignity's current offerings will expand Dignity's touchpoints with customers throughout their entire 'end-of-life' journey.”
Garrett said Farewill would benefit from the experience and resources of Dignity, whose history dates back to 1812, and which ‘has been a trusted name for generations”. He stressed that Farewill will continue to be run independently with its own ‘brand and focus’.
According to research from IbisWorld funeral industry revenues in the UK are increasing at an annual rate of 5.3 per cent. This is due to a shortage of burial spaces as the UK population rises. There has also been more demand for cremations.
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