The deal continues a run of M&A activity in the business of supporting fund, capital market, corporate and private wealth businesses. In the latest deal, the footprint of the firms concerned covered jurisdictions including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Guernsey, London, Dubai and the British Virgin Islands.

Vistra, Newhaven
Vistra, which provides advisory and administrative support to fund, corporate, capital market and private wealth clients, has entered a sale and purchase agreement with fellow sector player Newhaven.

This transaction is subject to regulatory approvals in various jurisdictions, Vistra said in a statement late last week. 

Vistra said the deal will boost its company formation and private wealth businesses, specifically in the British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Taiwan where Newhaven has operations.

This isn’t the only organisation of this type making M&A deals. In March this year, for example, ZEDRA, the corporate services, funds and wealth services firm, bought BFCS, the fund and corporate services arm of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg.

There has been plenty of M&A activity in the funds, administration and corporate services space in recent years. Last year JTC, the international provider of fund, corporate and private client services, agreed to acquire NES Financial, a US-based fund administration services business. The deal comes about a fortnight after JTC bought a private client business in Jersey. In March last year, JTC acquired Sanne’s private client business.

In 2019, SMP Group of Companies, a global professional and financial services group based in the Isle of Man, bought Jersey-based trust and corporate services provider Helm Trust Company. A number of banks, such as Investec, ABN AMRO and Barclays have spun off trusts and associated businesses. In December 2017, investor services firm SGG Group bought Jersey-based First Names Group from AnaCap Financial Services, the private equity organisation, and ZEDRA bought the Barclays UK trusts business, completing that deal in April 2016. More recently, ZEDRA purchased BNP Paribas Singapore Trust Corporation. The last decade has marked a steady flow of deals consolidating the sector.

Earlier in September, Suntera Global, the provider of corporate, fund and private wealth services, made its second Luxembourg acquisition, signing an agreement to buy NeoTrust Fiduciary Luxembourg SARL. The agreement came after Suntera Global bought Reference Financial Services (Luxembourg) in August.