Canaccord Financial confirmed Thursday it has agreed to acquire UK brokerage firm Collins Stewart Hawkpoint for about £253.3m in cash and stock.

The transaction is meant to help Canaccord, one Canada's largest independent brokerage firms, bolster its capital markets businesses in the UK and US and expand its operations in Singapore where London-based Collins has a division. The deal will also strengthen Canaccord's wealth management operations in the UK and Europe. At the end of October, Collins' asset management business oversaw about £7.8bn of assets.