[November 2019]
Silverfleet backs merger to create market leading Trust and Corporate Services technology provider
Silverfleet Capital, the leading Pan-European private equity firm, announces the merger of portfolio company Microgen Financial Systems (“Microgen”) and Touchstone Wealth Management (“Touchstone”) to create the leading provider of technology to the Trust and Corporate Services market.
Silverfleet acquired Microgen in May 2019 as the second investment from its lower mid-market focussed European Development Fund, with the ambition of building a market leading platform in the Trust and Corporate Services market through accelerated organic growth and M&A.
The merger of Microgen and Touchstone will deliver the global coverage, scale and innovation to meet the requirements of a rapidly evolving market. The combined group will be able to provide best in class technology to an expanded client base in fast-growing sectors such as alternative assets.
Richard Hall, CloudOrigin CEO, led the Technology and Operational Due Diligence for Microgen. “We were delighted to advise Microgen and Silverfleet on the potential to integrate the innovative Touchstone solutions and development capability based on Microsoft Dynamics365 into the Microgen portfolio”.
Keith Hale is joining as Executive Chairman to run the combined group and will work with both management teams on the strategy, oversee integration and drive business development. Keith is the former CEO of Multifonds, a leading software provider in the fund administration sector. The name of the new entity will be announced in due course.
The company will have a combined workforce of over 150 people, with offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Cyprus, Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom. Microgen and Touchstone will continue to operate as two separate divisions with investment and product development continuing in their core products, NavOne and 5Series.
Keith Hale, Executive Chairman said: “I’m very excited to join the merged group of Touchstone and Microgen. The fiduciary, trust and corporate services market is now going through a similar change to the one I witnessed previously in the mutual fund administration market. The need for innovative, resilient and modern technology will be increasingly critical to the successful service providers in this market. I look forward to working with both the teams to create a world-class technology company.”
David MacKenzie, Partner at Silverfleet Capital adds: “This merger brings together two individually successful businesses to create a software provider of scale in the Trust & Fund Admin and Corporate Services market that Silverfleet is very familiar with from successful investments in TMF and Ipes . The enlarged group will combine the best of both firms to set a new benchmark in functionality and client service across the globe to serve this growing and consolidating sector. We are looking forward to working closely with the management team to execute the growth strategy over the coming months.”
Keith Birch, CEO of Touchstone Group said: “I am hugely excited about this merger which will allow us to accelerate the development of innovative new capabilities and further meet the demands of customers. Touchstone Group would like to thank the team at Touchstone Wealth Management for their hard work in driving its successful development to date and we look forward to being part of the group’s future growth journey.”
The Silverfleet European Development Fund investment is made with the financial support of the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank. The merger is subject to competition authority clearance.
For more details [Click here].