Hampshire-based Microgen Financial Systems and Jersey-headquartered Touchstone Wealth Management have merged.
The combined group will be able to provide technology for the trust and corporate services market.
The merger is subject to competition authority clearance, which is expected to take between three and five weeks.
The deal was announced a week after International Adviser reported that the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) has opened an investigation into global fintech firm FNZ’s acquisition of Australia-based GBST Holdings.
This suggests that the financial technology sector is drawing increasing scrutiny.
Global reach
The name of the merged entity will be decided and announced in due course.
It will have a combined workforce of over 150 people, with offices in Jersey, Guernsey, Cyprus, Singapore, Australia and the UK.
Microgen and Touchstone will continue to operate as two separate divisions with investment and product development continuing in their core products, NavOne and 5Series, respectively.
Managerial team
As part of the merger, Keith Hale has been recruited as executive chairman to run the combined group.
He will work with both management teams on the combined strategy, oversee integration as well as drive business development.
Hale is the former chief executive of Multifonds, a software provider in the fund administration sector.
Details
The merger is supported by European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital, which invested in Microgen in June 2019 when it demerged from Aptitude Software.
The PE firm continues to support the business during the merger.
Touchstone Wealth Management will be carved out of the Touchstone Group, which will become a minority shareholder in the merged company.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
