A company backed by private equity firm Permira is to acquire Tricor, a provider of integrated business, corporate and investor services in Asia Pacific, from The Bank of East Asia (BEA) and NWS.
The total consideration amounts to HKD6,470 million (USD835 million), including at least HKD400 million (approximately USD50 million) in cash acquired as part of the transaction.
BEA and NWS Holdings hold 75.61 per cent and 24.39 per cent respectively, in Tricor, through East Asia Secretaries (BVI) Limited, which is Tricor's sole shareholder. Tricor’s management will become investors in Tricor alongside the Permira funds.
Founded in 2000, Tricor is a Hong Kong-based corporate services provider across 20 markets globally, with a strong presence in 13 markets in the APAC region. It offers a range of services across accounting and payroll for MNCs and SMEs, corporate governance and secretarial services for both listed and unlisted companies, and investor and share registry services.
Over the past 16 years, under BEA’s stewardship, Tricor has grown in scope and geographic footprint through a combination of M&A and organic expansion.
Tricor expects continued growth from an increase in demand for its services in Asia, as more businesses outsource services due to a continual increase in reporting complexity and regulation. The business has also built a unique position in the investor services and share registry market in Hong Kong.
Permira funds invest in firms such as LegalZoom, an online legal services company in the US; wealth manager Tilney Bestinvest; and receivables manager GFKL Lowell.
Johnny Ng and Julian Chow, group chief executives and managing directors of Tricor, say: “We are delighted at the opportunity to partner with Permira. We are convinced that their significant experience, resources and capital will accelerate our growth plans and that being part of Permira’s international network, will help us pursue new revenue streams in Asia and beyond.”
Robin Bell-Jones, partner at Permira in Hong Kong, adds: “Permira has been focusing on the corporate services market for a number of years and with Tricor we believe we have found a real gem – a very high quality business led by a deeply experienced management team that has established Tricor as the market leader in Asia, a region which is the fastest-growing corporate services market globally. The acquisition fits squarely into the Permira funds’ global strategy of investing in market leaders with high recurring revenues and strong cash generation in structurally growing markets.
“Tricor has many avenues to expand organically and is an excellent platform for further consolidating the sector via M&A in what remains a very fragmented market. We look forward to working with Johnny and Julian and their team to develop the business and further strengthen Tricor’s position as the pan-Asian leader over the coming years.”
