Simmons has advised Waystone Group (Waystone) on its acquisition of the UK and Irish businesses of Link Fund Solutions (LFS), following regulatory approval and the completion of other contractual conditions.
Waystone, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, is a leading provider of institutional governance, risk and compliance services to the asset management industry. With other 20 years’ experience, Waystone now supports asset managers with more than US$2tn in AUM.
LFS is an independent provider of Authorised Fund Manager (AFM) and administrative services with £160bn of assets under administration with over 40 years’ experience of regulatory and administrative services.
Given the context of the transaction, this was a very complex deal, involving a multi-disciplinary team from across the firm, including corporate, funds, regulatory, tax, digital business, employment, pensions, incentives, IP, real estate, disputes and coordination of international counsel. It was led by the UK and Irish corporate, funds and employment teams - Ania Rontaler and Raghav Ghai (UK M&A), David Brangam (Ireland M&A), Mahrie Webb (UK Funds) and James McKnight (Ireland Funds), Cathryn Bean (UK Employment), with Martin Shah (UK Tax) coordinating tax input.
Commenting on the deal, Ania said “It has been a real pleasure working so closely with the Waystone team on this complex and exciting transaction. We are really proud of the great team effort and to have helped Waystone further execute on its strategic objectives”, James added: “The deal further showcases our firm’s strength in the asset management sector, particularly in M&A, and in our ability to combine specialist expertise from across our practice areas and internationally.” Mahrie also added: “Huge congratulations to Waystone and all the parties and teams involved in this transaction. I am proud that we were able to contribute our market leading asset management expertise and experience to this significant step for the UK funds industry in particular.”