Ipes Holdings, the company behind specialist Guernsey-based fund administrator International Private Equity Services, is to be acquired by the group’s management with backing from mid-mark
Ipes Holdings, the company behind specialist Guernsey-based fund administrator International Private Equity Services, is to be acquired by the group’s management with backing from mid-market private equity firm RJD Partners, subject to regulatory approval.
Ipes was established in February 1998 as a joint venture between founding executives Connie Helyar and Peter Gillson, who are today executive chairman and a non-executive director respectively, and four private equity firms which had found it difficult to identify high-quality offshore outsourcing services and therefore encouraged the creation of a specialist independent company.
Today Ipes is a leading specialist offshore providers of private equity fund administration, servicing more than 300 funds with more than 4,000 investors for 56 client groups, including nine clients with more than EUR500m in funds under management.
The firm currently employs 120 staff in Guernsey, Jersey and London, with expansion to Luxembourg under consideration, and has more than USD40bn in assets under administration on behalf of buyout houses, venture capital groups and fund of funds managers around the world.
RJD partner Duncan Johnson, who will join the Ipes board as a non-executive director, says: ‘We are delighted to support Kevin Brennan and the managers of Ipes, who have built an excellent and innovative business, with sophisticated financial solutions and a strong reputation with key intermediaries, and we look forward to working with them to realise the company’s full potential.’ The buyout is the seventh investment by RJD Partners through RJD Private Equity Fund II.
Says Helyar: ‘We have ambitious plans for future growth, and I am confident that RJD shares our vision for the company and are the best partners to help us achieve our goals for the business.’
Brennan, the firm’s chief executive, adds: ‘We feel that RJD Partners was the most suitable partner to support the Ipes management’s business plan. Together we have structured a deal which will help us achieve greater growth and underpin Ipes’ future success.’
RJD Partners was advised on financial and management due diligence by BDO Stoy Hayward and Quinn Partnership respectively, its legal advisers were DLA Piper and Carey Olsen in Guernsey, and Willis advised on insurance. Ipes received advice by Cavendish Corporate Finance and law firm Bedell Cristin, while Wyvern Partners provided financial advice to the management team.
RJD Partners is a middle-market private equity firm targeting UK companies in the service and leisure sectors with enterprise values up to GBP75m. RJD Partners has raised total funds exceeding GBP250m and has completed 14 investments, with Ipes becoming the seventh investment for its second fund.
