Apex Group was already present in Luxembourg prior to the deal with an office in Munsbach. It previously bought Luxembourg-based management company LRI.

Adding FundRock to its portfolio “emphases the Group’s single-source commitment to providing the broadest range of solutions in the industry,” a statement by Apex said.

FundRock counts more than 130 staff at its five offices in Luxembourg, France, Ireland, the UK and Singapore, offering management company and alternative investment fund solutions. The firm oversees more than $100bn of third-party assets for more than 90 established companies and asset owners.

But the Luxembourg FundRock Holding--formerly RBS--at the start of the year provided £4.4m in emergency funding to its UK unit FundRock Partners, according to the Financial Times, after the latter posted a £1.9m loss for the financial year ending March 2019. A spokesperson told Delano that funding for FundRock Partners comprised scheduled payments worth £5.1m over a period of 18 months between 2018 and 2019 as part of investments "to harmonise the operating model across entities following the UK acquisition" but that this did not constitute emergency funding.

The terms of the transaction between Apex Group and FundRock are undisclosed and subject to regulatory approval. The closing of the deal is expected in the first quarter of 2021.

The Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) in October 2019 slapped a €100,000 fine on the Luxembourg branch of Apex Fund Services (Malta) for providing the regulator “with supporting documentation or other information that proved to be partially incomplete, incorrect or false” following a site visit.

Apex Group was established in Bermuda in 2003 and now counts around 4,000 employees at 45 offices worldwide.

Updated on 16 October 2020 at 4pm to add statement by FundRock spokesperson.