Private equity investor RJD Partners has realized its investment in fund administrator Ipes in a buyout backed by Silverfleet Capital.
The sale represents RJD’s fourth exit from its second fund, RJD Private Equity Fund II, and values Ipes at £50 million, giving a return to RJD of three times its original investment. Final completion is subject to obtaining regulatory approval. The other three realizations on the second fund, which closed in July 2007, involved firms in healthcare, education and healthcare.
RJD backed the £25 million buyout of Ipes from its original founder in September 2008, fully underwriting the deal.
Ipes was founded in Guernsey in 1998. Today the business employs 130 staff, managing in excess of $50 billion of assets from four European offices in Guernsey, Jersey, London and Luxembourg. Ipes has over 90 clients and administers 230 funds.
Kevin Brennan and the management
team have delivered significant growth, increasing
assets under management from
$36 billion at the time of the original buyout, to over $50 billion today.
Richard Caston, managing partner, RJD Partners said: "We are delighted to have supported an exceptionally strong management team in growing Ipes into a clear market leader with an unparalleled reputation for service. This transaction delivers a highly successful exit for RJD and our funds. We wish Ipes every success under its new financial backer.”
Kevin Brennan, chief executive, Ipes added: "We have enjoyed working in partnership with RJD over the past five years to build Ipes’s outstanding track record in the fund administration market and to deliver consistent growth. There remain exciting opportunities both domestically and internationally for the business going forward, particularly with the introduction of recent legislation such as AIFMD, FATCA and Dodd-Frank. Silverfleet Capital has been a customer of Ipes for over ten years so we are delighted that they are backing the business in its next stage of development.”
RJD was advised by teams led by Byron Griffin at Deloitte (corporate finance advice)and Jim Lavery at DLA (legal advice). Management were advised by Babbe (legal advice) and Wyvern Partners (corporate finance advice).
Richard Caston and Jill Williams worked on the realisation for RJD.