TMF Group expands US private markets business with acquisition of Venture Back Office

Another M&A deal for growing fund administrator TMF Group as it takes its assets under administration to $150 billion.

By Jonathan Watkins

Fund administration provider TMF Group has completed the acquisition of Venture Back Office (VBO), a USbased third-party provider of solutions to private equity, real assets, credit, and emerging manager funds.

The deal is the latest in a string of takeovers by the ambitious fund services provider after it acquired State Street’s fund administration business in the Channel Islands, Dutch-based IQ-Nexus, and Selectra, a third-party AIFM ManCo in Luxembourg.

VBO was founded in 2007 and provides a range of services from fund administration to investor services, as well as solutions for management and portfolio companies. It is one of a few fund administrators that provides ASC 820 Fair Value Measurement services.

TMF Group will now administer more than €150 billion worth of assets on behalf of its global fund manager client base. 

The fund services provider has been growing aggressively in recent years, adding multiple new hires from rival administrators and winning mandates throughout Europe and North America.

The expansion earnt TMF Group a nomination for Fund Service Provider: One to Watch at Global Custodian’s 2020 Industry Leaders awards. 

“We are delighted to welcome the team at VBO into the TMF Group fold,” said Jan Willem van Drimmelen, TMF Group’s Head of North America. “The US market is particularly important for the group as it is home to 60% of the world’s private equity market. VBO’s skillset and knowledge of local requirements significantly enhances our global offering and domestic capabilities – the combination of our global mindset, matched with VBO’s local expertise, looks set to be very powerful. 

In October last year, TMF Group hired Kwame Lewis as head of fund services for North America to fuel its administration growth plans in the region. In the newly created role, Lewis would be responsible for supporting and accelerating the growth of TMF’s fund services unit in North America.

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