Sanne Group has entered into an agreement to acquire Scandinavian fund services provider Private Equity Administrators (PEA), adding €27 billion in assets to its ranks.
Formed by its current owners in 2007, PEA specialises in providing boutique fund administration and depositary services to alternative fund structures.
The business is headquartered in Denmark and has operations in Sweden and Guernsey, with over 55 employees, upwards of €27 billion of assets under administration, supporting both onshore and offshore pan-European funds.
In a statement, Sanne added that the acquisition will further expand Sanne’s geographical footprint and its offering into the Scandinavian markets of Denmark and Sweden, which it believes have strong underlying growth characteristics.
“The acquisition of PEA is a further demonstration of our strategic ambition to expand our alternatives-focused client service offering and geographical footprint,” said Martin Schnaier, chief executive officer, Sanne Group. “PEA has demonstrated strong growth in recent years and we look forward to working with PEA’s proven and entrepreneurial management team to provide excellent service within our expanded client proposition.”
Following a period of growth in recent years, Sanne has taken its funds under administration to around $327 billion, not including PEA. The mix of organic growth and acquisitions have been coupled with some high-profile hires as the fund administrator looks to aggressively expand.
The moves made during 2020 earnt the service provider a nomination in Global Custodian’s upcoming awards for Fund Administrator: One to Watch.
Pending regulatory approval from the relevant bodies, the PEA transaction is expected to complete in the first quarter of 2021.