Calastone said on Monday that global investment firm The Carlyle Group has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the business from its current shareholders, including Octopus Ventures and Accel.
Calastone management retains a minority stake, said the company in a statement. Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed.
Calastone, an independent, cross-border transaction network for the mutual fund industry, was founded in 2007. Calastone is headquartered in London and has offices in Luxembourg, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, New York and Sydney.
In May 2019, Calastone launched its Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI), enabling the full automation and digitalisation of the fund transaction process via distributed ledger technology.
Today, Calastone, the largest global funds network, serves over 2,300 clients in 43 countries and territories processing £200 billion of investment value each month.
Commenting on the acquisition, Calastone’s Chief Executive Officer Julien Hammerson, said: “We have made great strides in the past decade to meet the needs of our customers and their investors in reducing friction and costs within the mutual fund industry. Our business has grown from strength to strength and has created the Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI), a hugely innovative and market leading DLT based platform to drive yet more efficiency. At the same time, we have continued to expand internationally and created new opportunities in Money Market funds.
“Everyone at Calastone has much to be proud of and there is huge potential for growth based on the technology platform and unique service offering we have created. We are delighted to have the full support of The Carlyle Group to capitalise on this opportunity and take the company forward into the next phase of its development and growth.
“I would also like to thank Octopus Ventures and Accel as well as our non-executive Directors Chris Wade and Chairman Cristóbal Conde, who have all contributed greatly to our success.”
Fernando Chueca, a Managing Director in The Carlyle Group’s advisory team, said: “Calastone is a global leader and innovator in the funds technology industry, a large and growing market. Since its inception, the company has achieved remarkable growth through replacing legacy and complex workflows with truly innovative solutions for its clients. We are delighted to partner with Julien and the management team and look forward to leveraging our global platform, network of relationships, and deep expertise in Financial Services and Technology to support Calastone in its next phase of growth.”
Barclays have acted as advisors to Calastone throughout the transaction.
