Options, a provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global capital markets, has secured a significant investment from Bregal Sagemount, a New York-based private equity firm focused on growth-oriented investments.
The transaction, which sees Bregal Sagemount invest nearly USD100 million in Options, will enable the firm’s executive team to pursue strategic growth initiatives, invest further in platform innovations, and expand Options’ reach in key financial centres globally.
Options, founded in 1993 as a hedge fund technology services provider, has enjoyed a period of rapid growth in recent years and now finds itself as an established market leader in outsourced financial technology and managed IT services to global capital markets and financial services firms. This status has been underlined by recent client wins, which include some of the world’s leading financial institutions, asset managers, and funds. In the US alone, the firm’s revenues have more than doubled from 2014 to 2016.
In the same period, the firm has grown its staff from 110 to close to 200 and established a presence in London, New York, Belfast, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Dublin, Geneva, and the Caribbean. Bregal Sagemount’s investment will build on this momentum, enabling the management team to invest in the people and technology required to scale the business, while ensuring the ability to deliver multifaceted IT solutions and a customer centric engagement and support model is maintained.
Options CEO, Nigel Kneafsey (pictured), says, “We are delighted to be working with Bregal Sagemount. Their investment in Options is an endorsement of the team, services, and technology we have built over the last 25 years. We believe that the rapid growth in the business in the last few years is underpinned by the accelerated wave of outsourcing in Financial Services IT globally. Sagemount is the perfect partner to support our mission to become a global power in this high growth sector.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Nigel, Danny, and the rest of the team at Options to support the Company’s next phase of growth,” says Bregal Sagemount Managing Partner, Gene Yoon. “The impressive success that Options has experienced over the past several years pays testament to the quality of the platform and the organisation as a whole. We look forward to working closely with the Options team as we continue to expand our service delivery capabilities, develop additional offerings, and build a world-class organisation in support of our customers.”
