H.I.G. Europe and FNZ Enter into Partnership with General Atlantic
LONDON – February 27, 2012 – H.I.G. Europe (“H.I.G.”), the European arm of global private equity firm H.I.G. Capital, and FNZ Holdings Ltd (“FNZ” or the “Company”), a world leading provider of Software as a Service (“SaaS”) solutions to the financial services sector, are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement with General Atlantic LLC (“General Atlantic”) a leading global growth equity firm, whereby General Atlantic will acquire a minority stake in FNZ alongside H.I.G. and the management team. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
H.I.G. backed an MBO of FNZ in early 2009 and the Company has since experienced rapid organic growth supporting its existing blue-chip clients such as Standard Life and Axa as well as new client wins including JP Morgan, HSBC, AMP, National Australia Bank, Friends Life, UBS, Zurich Financial, Close Brothers Asset Management and Barclays Wealth. In 2009, the Company successfully entered the Australian market. Since early 2009, FNZ’s employees have grown from approximately 200 to over 560 with a presence in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and the Czech Republic.
Adrian Durham, CEO of FNZ said: “General Atlantic’s strong international reach and strategic capabilities will be of great value to FNZ as we continue to grow and invest in further innovation to enhance our value proposition and remain at the cutting-edge of wrap platform services and solutions.”
John Bernstein, Managing Director at General Atlantic said: “We are deeply impressed with the extraordinary achievements of Adrian and his team over the past few years. General Atlantic backs world class high growth companies and we are pleased to be partnering with an international market leader in an exciting space that is undergoing profound change and rapid growth.”
Matthias Allgaier, Managing Director at H.I.G. said: “General Atlantic will be an excellent value-added partner for FNZ given its strong track record in growth equity investing, excellent international reputation and expertise in the financial services sector. We are delighted at the prospect of having them on board as we continue to support FNZ through its next phase of growth and international expansion into Asia and other key geographies. While the transaction provides an attractive partial equity realization for H.I.G. Europe, the decision to maintain a significant stake in the business reflects H.I.G.’s strong ongoing commitment to FNZ.”
About FNZ
FNZ provides an end-to-end wealth management solution based on a SaaS delivery model to life insurers, banks, fund supermarkets, asset managers and networks of financial advisors, enabling them to develop and distribute financial products and services to their customers. FNZ has a strong blue-chip customer base including Standard Life, Axa, JP Morgan, HSBC, AMP, National Australia Bank, Bank of New Zealand, Friends Life, UBS, Zurich Financial, Close Brothers Asset Management and Barclays Wealth. The Company employs over 560 people with offices in Edinburgh, London, Bristol, Brno (Czech Republic), Wellington and Sydney.
About H.I.G. Capital
H.I.G. Capital is a leading global private equity investment firm with more than $8.5 billion of equity capital under management. Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco in the U.S., as well as affiliate offices in London, Hamburg, Madrid, Paris and Rio de Janeiro, H.I.G. specializes in providing capital to small and medium-sized companies with attractive growth potential. H.I.G. invests in management-led buyouts and recapitalizations of profitable and well managed manufacturing and service businesses. H.I.G. also has extensive experience with financial restructurings and operational turnarounds. Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. invested in and managed more than 200 companies worldwide. The firm’s current portfolio includes more than 50 companies with combined revenues in excess of $8 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at www.hig.com.
About General Atlantic Partners
General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support for growth companies. GA combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, long-term investment horizon and deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great management teams and build exceptional businesses worldwide. Established in 1980, GA manages approximately $17 billion in capital and has more than 75 investment professionals based in Greenwich, New York, Palo Alto, London, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong, Beijing, Mumbai and São Paulo. General Atlantic has been an active investor in financial services, investing nearly $3 billion in more than two dozen financial services companies globally. Current financial services sector investments include Oak Hill Advisors, CITCO, First Republic Bank, Getco LLC, Markit, BM&F Bovespa and Indusland Bank; prior investments in the sector include NYSE Euronext (via Archipelago), CME Group (via NYMEX), RiskMetrics and E*Trade. For further information and a listing of GA’s public and private portfolio companies see www.generalatlantic.com.