Institutional governance provider Waystone has $1trn in assets under management while the firm was formed as a result of the merger of three companies, two Irish--DMS and Montlake--and one Luxembourg--MDO. An ambitious growth plan was announced last July, when Montagu Private Equity announced its acquisition of stakes in Waystone. All of the required regulatory approvals were granted on 21 January.

HG Capital, a London-based private equity fund, has also acquired a stake in Montagu and would provide backing to support Waystone's growth in the years to come.

“In Montagu, we have a shareholder that will enable us to achieve our organic and external growth ambitions. We have a number of targets in the pipeline for the coming months that will enable us to achieve our strategic goal of becoming the global leader in governance, compliance and risk management,” said Cyril Delamare, founder of Montlake and a member of Waystone Group's board of directors.

Waystone's market evaluation stands at nearly €1.3bn following these transactions.

Growth on the agenda

Last week, Waystone announced the acquisition of T. Bailey Fund Services, a company specialising in management company (ManCo) services and fund administration for fund managers in the UK market. The acquisition takes Waystone--already active in this segment of the UK market--past the £10bn mark in terms of assets and into the top five third party ManCo's in the UK.

This week KB Associates (KBA) will join the Waystone Group via a merger.

KB Associates was founded in 2003 and specialises in the provision of management consulting, governance, regulatory and other related services to the asset management industry. Headquartered in Ireland, with offices in London, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Malta, KBA employs nearly 100 consultants, advises over 250 international asset managers and supports investment funds with assets in excess of $400bn.

Following the merger, its founder, Mike Kirby, will become Executive Chairman--Europe and a member of the Waystone group board. “Our international client base is placing increasing emphasis on the ability to resolve complex regulatory and governance issues across multiple jurisdictions. Becoming part of the Waystone group, which has offices in 14 locations in Europe, North America and Asia, allows us to offer a unique global solution,” he said.

New momentum for Luxembourg

“This merger is the largest ever undertaken by the group”, said Delamare, “and it will enable us to double in size, in terms of the European assets handled in our ManCo, to €240bn. And from a global point of view, we will go from more than €1bn under supervision to around €1,400bn in assets."

The merger will have an impact in Luxembourg, where Waystone and KB Associates operate. The latter acquired  last March, which will be merged with Waystone, “allowing us to accelerate the development of a location as important as Ireland for the group”. Following the merger around 100 people will be employed by Waystone in Luxembourg.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.