RBC employee benefits platform bought by JTC
BIG acquisition deals in the finance sector, which affect a number of offices in Guernsey, have been unveiled.
JTC, a global provider of fund, corporate and private client services, is buying RBC CEES Ltd – an employee benefits platform with an internationally diverse blue-chip corporate client base. CEES’ client book consists of more than 430 corporate relationships and more than 890 plans, with assets under administration of around £11bn. Both JTC and CEES already have offices in Guernsey.
Around 180 CEES employees overall, including the senior management team, will join JTC at completion. They will become part of JTC’s institutional client services division. The transaction is subject to relevant regulatory approvals and is expected to complete early in quarter two of 2021.
‘We are pleased to welcome our new colleagues and clients to the group and look forward to working with the excellent team at RBC to ensure a smooth transition of the business,’ said JTC chief executive officer Nigel Le Quesne.
‘We can see that demand for employee ownership solutions is growing globally and as well as achieving enhanced financial performance over the medium term once integrated onto the JTC platform, we see medium and long-term opportunities for good organic growth.’
Meanwhile, Sanne – which has an office in Guernsey – has entered into an agreement to acquire PEA, a Scandinavian and Guernsey private equity fund administrator. The deal will add 55 employees in total and more than 27bn euros of assets under administration to Sanne, with offices in Denmark, Sweden and Guernsey.
‘Both Sanne and PEA have a close cultural alignment sharing a strong focus on delivering high quality client service,’ said Sanne. ‘PEA is a strategically important acquisition that will further expand Sanne’s geographical footprint, introducing a new physical presence in the important Scandinavian markets of Denmark and Sweden, which have strong underlying growth characteristics.
‘The acquisition will also provide an opportunity to increase the scale of the group’s Guernsey operations and client base.’
Sanne, a global alternative asset and corporate services provider, said the deal has been agreed with an upfront consideration of 27m. euros, of which 30% will be payable in Sanne shares and cash earn-out components based on performance up to the end of 2022, capped at 3.25m. euros.
The acquisition should complete by the end of quarter one 2021, subject to regulatory clearance, with the transaction expected to be ‘immediately earnings enhancing’.
