Apex Group has made its fourth purchase this year with the acquisition of Custom House, a global hedge fund administrator with $24 billion in assets under administration (AuA).
As part of the deal, Custom House’s chief executive officer (CEO), Mark Hedderman, has decided to step down to explore new opportunities.
The addition of Custom House bolsters Apex’s existing hedge fund services division, giving it an added presence across Asia and Europe.
“Custom House is aligned with this approach to client service and fits extremely well into the Group, utilising the same platforms and further bolstering our hedge expertise and capabilities,” said Peter Hughes, founder and CEO, Apex Group.
“In turn, our extensive private equity and hybrid fund service infrastructure will open up new solutions to Custom House clients and deliver a truly global framework servicing the full value chain of any fund.”
The deal increases Apex’s AuA to $560 billion, after completing the onboarding process of Deutsche Bank’s Alternative Fund services business in June. This year alone, it has also acquired M.M. Warburg’s asset servicing business, private equity administrator Ipes and Luxembourg fund administrator LRI Group.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval, and is expected to be completed at the end of fourth quarter this year.
The acquisition marks the end of a three-year period for Custom House as an independent administrator, after it was offloaded by TMF Group in 2015.
“A key objective of the Group was to find a partner who has a similar ethos and would enable us to continue to put our clients first. We feel that Apex is a perfect partner to achieve this,” added David Barry, chief operating officer, Custom House.