Apex Group has acquired UAE–based compliance and risk advisory firm, Praesidium Advisory, as it continues to build out its presence in the Middle East.
The Group – which has extended its reach far beyond its original fund administration services – said the transaction will add further weight to its corporate solutions business following the recent the expansion of its subsidiary, Throgmorton, into the UAE.
The merging of the Praesidium practice into the Group’s compliance arm adds clients across the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), along with London, US, and Switzerland.
The clients include asset managers, family offices, government entities, financial institutions, law firms and individuals.
Apex has been prioritising the region in recent years, building on its status as the first administrator in the DIFC in 2006 and the first to receive official approval and licensing from the FSRA of AGDM in 2017.
Praesidium’s risk and advisory solution has been servicing clients in the DIFC for several years.
Praesidium founder, Hari Bhambra, will take up the position of global head of compliance solutions further bolstering the Group’s team who joined from Throgmorton Compliance Solutions business in the UK.
“The Praesidium team are delighted to be joining the Apex Group at such an exciting time in its journey,” said Bhambra. “There is a natural parity between our businesses as we are committed to understanding the needs of our clients and the need to access markets quickly. Compliance remains an integral part of financial services and as part of the global Apex Group our solution, supported by our proprietary Compliance technology, will deliver an important element of the single-source solution that enhances our clients’ operations.”
Apex has been demonstrating its intent to dominate the corporate solutions market globally through a string of announcements this year; expanding Throgmorton’s well-established accounting, tax, HR, payroll and company secretarial services into the US, Abu Dhabi, Switzerland and Jersey, in addition to launching Escrow services in the Americas and corporate solutions services in Hong Kong.
The Praesidium deal adds to a long run of M&A activity as Apex bids to become a one-stop securities services shop across multiple regions.