News

H.I.G. Capital said Oct. 9 that it agreed to sell its stake in FNZ to Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and Generation Investment Management LLP. The deal was valued at 1.65 billion pounds ($2.15 billion). FNZ, of Edinburgh, U.K., is a Platform-as-a-Service provider to the European wealth management industry. UPDATE: General Atlantic, which invested in FNZ in 2012, is also selling its holding.

PRESS RELEASE

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global private equity investment firm with over €24 billion of equity capital under management, announced today that one of its affiliates has entered a definitive agreement to sell its stake in FNZ (“FNZ” or the “Company”), the market leading Platform-as-a-Service (“PaaS”) provider to the European wealth management industry, to Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (“CDPQ”) and Generation Investment Management LLP (“Generation”) (“CDPQ-GIM”) in a transaction valuing the Company at £1.65 billion.
Headquartered in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, FNZ is a market leading Platform-as-a-Service provider to the European wealth management industry. During H.I.G.’s ownership, the Company has delivered exceptional growth and substantially grew its footprint and broadened its offering into continental Europe and Asia across all segments, from mass-market workplace pensions to mass-affluent and high-net-worth clients. As a result, FNZ is now the European market leader with a broad service offering.
Carl Harring, Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, commented: “H.I.G. is proud to have been a long-term partner of FNZ. During our nine years of ownership, the Company experienced exceptional growth in assets under administration from £5bn to over £330bn, and became the European Platform-as-a-Service market leader in the wealth management industry. FNZ has delivered an outstanding return for H.I.G. and its investors; we look forward to following the Company as it continues on its rapid global growth path.”
Adrian Durham, CEO, FNZ, stated: “We would like to thank the H.I.G. team for their advice, investment and operational support over the years. Under H.I.G.’s ownership, we have successfully partnered to deliver exceptional growth and value creation for our investors, whilst driving down long-term costs for financial institutions and consumers alike.”
JP Morgan acted as financial adviser to H.I.G. Capital.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. is a leading global private equity and alternative assets investment firm with over €24 billion of equity capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Atlanta in the U.S., as well as international affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to small and mid-sized companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/ value-added approach:
1. H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalisations and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.
2. H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets. H.I.G. is also a leading CLO manager, through its WhiteHorse family of vehicles, and manages a publicly traded BDC, WhiteHorse Finance.
3. H.I.G.’s real assets funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.
Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 300 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of €28 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.higcapital.com.
About FNZ
FNZ, founded in 2003, is a global FinTech firm which is transforming the way financial institutions serve their wealth management customers. It partners with banks, insurers and asset managers to help consumers better achieve their financial goals. Today, FNZ is responsible for over £300 billion in assets under administration held by around 5 million customers of some of the world’s largest financial institutions, including Standard Aberdeen, Barclays, Lloyds Bank, Vanguard, Generali, Quilter, Santander, Aviva, Zurich, UOB, UBS, Findex and BNZ. In total, FNZ partners with over 60 financial institutions across the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia.
* Based on total capital commitments managed by H.I.G. Capital and affiliates.