New PE backer for acquisitive accounting group

Acquisitive accounting group Affinia has been taken over by a new private equity owner in a move that will see it continue its M&A-driven growth in a sector that remains considerably fragmented.

RedBird Capital Partners has acquired Affinia from previous backer Sovereign Capital Partners. The deal will support Affinia’s ongoing acquisition strategy, as well as its continuing investment in talent.

Affinia was launched in November 2024 by LB Group, the chartered accountancy services portfolio business of Sovereign Capital Partners. Sovereign initially invested in LB Group in May 2023, subsequently growing through a series of acquisitions before forming Affinia.

Since then, Affinia has continued to grow through M&A and now has more than 1,000 employees working from 17 offices across the South, East and Midlands. To date, the group has completed 16 bolt-on acquisitions, with its most recent takeover being the addition of three UHY Hacker Young practices.

RedBird partner Mike Zabik said that the firm would work with Affinia “to capture the considerable opportunity in the fragmented accounting space.”

Zabik continued: "Affinia has demonstrated strong momentum and clear differentiation within the UK market, and with the support of the RedBird platform, we see a definitive pathway for Affinia to set a new industry standard for innovation and execution through the deployment of AI and other initiatives across the company."

Darren Redmayne, group chief executive of Affinia (pictured above), said that Sovereign Capital had provided “invaluable support in helping us build the fastest growing fully integrated accounting platform in the UK.”

He added: "Partnering with RedBird marks an exciting new chapter as we accelerate our growth strategy, deploy technology to enhance the client experience and make our platform even more appealing to future partner firms aligned with our vision."

By realising its investment in Affinia, Sovereign Capital Partners has made a second exit from its fifth fund in under a month, following the sale of Knovia Group in March.

According to Sovereign, the January 2026 combination with UHY Hacker Young’s offices in London, Brighton and Nottingham established Affinia as a Top 25 UK accountancy firm, with revenues of more than £100 million.

The firm has also generated strong organic revenue growth of around 15 per cent per annum, driven by cross-selling and the realisation of cost synergies at its acquired businesses, along with investments in technology infrastructure.

Find out how accounting firms are using M&A to drive growth by broadening their service offering, expanding their geographic footprint and integrating new technologies

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