FNZ, the platform technology provider underpinning the likes of Embark Advance and Nucleus, has completed its sale of GBST to Anchorage Capital Capital Partners, a private equity fund with financial services and systems experience.
Anchorage Capital Partners’ investment is focussed on GBST’s wealth management division, including Composer, while FNZ will reacquire GBST’s capital markets division, including its capital markets team and Syn product suite.
The sale was initiated after FNZ’s acquisition of rival GBST was blocked by the competition watchdog last year, forcing it to sell the firm.
The CMA had concluded a merger of the two tech providers would see customers using investment platforms face “higher costs and lower quality services”, contributing to a less competitive market.
Rob DeDominicis, chief executive officer of GBST, said: “This is a key milestone for GBST, and we are delighted to have been acquired by Anchorage Capital Partners, which has a strong reputation of investing in organisations like ours with outstanding market potential and an enviable list of Tier 1 financial services clients.
“We are pleased to have the support of Anchorage to drive continued growth, including expansion in key existing markets such as the UK and Australia.”
Phillip Cave, founder and chairman at Anchorage Capital Partners, added: “We are thrilled to acquire GBST’s Wealth Management business and are committed to further investment supporting GBST management’s long-term growth plans and future pipeline of opportunities in the UK and Australia for its market leading wealth management administration platform and services."
The purchase completed today (December 22) and reacquisition of the capital markets division by FNZ is expected to complete in Q1 2022.
Terms of the agreement have not being disclosed but it has been approved by the Competition and Markets Authority.
Earlier this month, FNZ bought a Zurich-based firm specialising in client onboarding called Appway.
The deal, expected to complete in the first quarter of next year, will see FNZ take on Appway’s contracts with a number of wealth manager clients - including Credit Suisse, HSBC, Investec and Deutsche Boerse.
FNZ said Appway will help it speed up onboarding advisers’ clients on platforms by “90 per cent”, through automating more steps in the wealth management workflow.
As part of the transaction, Hanspeter Wolf, Appway’s founder and chief executive, became FNZ’s chief technology officer.
sonia.rach@ft.com
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