Dublin-based third-party management company Waystone on Tuesday said that it has closed its acquisition of Irish fund management services firm KB Associates in a transaction that makes it Ireland’s largest management company for Ucits funds.
As a result of the transaction, Waystone said it will welcome on board 90 new team members and will now support European management company assets exceeding 300 billion dollars.
KB Associates, also based in Dublin, is an Irish management company advising Ucits and AIFMD investment funds that in March last year bought Luxembourg’s EFG Fund Management. Its integration into Waystone was announced in January of this year as a plan to create a leading European management company. Financial details have not been disclosed.
New headquarters in Dublin
“We are delighted that KBA has chosen to join our institutional partnership and we look forward to welcoming 90 talented new colleagues as part of the Waystone family,” said Derek Delany, Waystone’s CEO, in a statement. “Our new headquarters at 35 Shelbourne Road is a collaborative and technically advanced space that has the benefit of being flexible enough to adapt to our future needs as we continue to grow.”
“By joining the Waystone Group, which has offices in fifteen locations across the globe, we will be able to offer our international clients a single global solution to meet their complex regulatory and governance requirements,” said Andrew Keho, CEO of KBA.
KBA founder Mike Kirby will become executive chairman - Europe and board member of the new group and will act as “a significant investor” in the combined business, the companies said when announcing the deal in January.
End of 2022
Waystone said it will take four floors of the flagship building in order to accommodate its 600-strong Dublin workforce based in the city and is expected to occupy the building at the end of this year.
Since 2000, Waystone is a leading provider of institutional governance, risk and compliance services to the asset management industry. It is financially backed by private equity firms, Montague and, since January of this year, HG Capital Trust. Established in 2003, KB Associates has offices in Dublin, Luxembourg, London and Malta. It is a market leading provider of management company, both in Ucits and AIFMD and consulting services. The firm also is one of the most active issues on the market for Luxembourg Reserved Alternative Investment Funds, known as Raifs.
KB Associates was advised on the transaction by A&L Goodbody and Squire Patton Boggs led by Sheena Doggett and James Fitzgibbon respectively.
Luxembourg is home to more than 300 ManCo’s, of which some 130 or are known as Super Manco’s, providing both services for Ucits funds and for alternative funds regulated under the EU’s AIFMD rules. Ireland hosts about 90 Super Manco’s.
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