LONDON & NEW YORK & VICTORIA, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ZEDRA (“ZEDRA” or “the Company”), a global specialist in Global Expansion and Corporate Services, Active Wealth and Fund Solutions, today announced it has reached an agreement to receive a strategic minority investment from British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (“BCI”), one of Canada’s largest institutional investors. This investment will be made in partnership with ZEDRA’s management team, led by Executive Chairman Bart Deconinck and CEO Ivo Hemelraad, and the Company’s existing majority investor, Corsair, which will remain the majority shareholder.
Founded in 2016, ZEDRA delivers tailored, high-quality solutions to clients, who include high net worth individuals, entrepreneurs and families seeking diversified active wealth solutions, as well as multi-national companies of all sizes, corporate pension schemes, asset managers and their investors. ZEDRA’s full range of services is designed to protect the real value of clients’ assets and support businesses in unlocking growth and expansion.
Bart Deconinck, Executive Chairman at ZEDRA, said, “We are excited to partner with BCI, who brings significant resources and expertise, and will enable us to continue building on the significant accomplishments we have achieved with Corsair’s strong support. Together, we have built a successful, sustainable and innovative business with the expanding global footprint required to deliver bespoke solutions across the private client, corporate services and fund administration sectors. As ZEDRA enters an exciting new stage of our growth story, we look forward to enhancing our offerings and providing best-in-class services to meet our clients’ continually evolving needs.”
Raja Hadji-Touma, Partner at Corsair, said, “We are grateful for our successful partnership with the ZEDRA team and are delighted to welcome BCI as an investor alongside us. This investment is a testament to ZEDRA’s continued success executing on its growth plan, demonstrated by the Company’s impressive team, product and geographical strategic expansion. We look forward to supporting ZEDRA’s continued success as a majority shareholder through this next phase of their growth.”
Jim Pittman, Executive Vice President & Global Head, Private Equity at BCI, said, “We are impressed by the strong business and market position built by Bart, Ivo and the ZEDRA team, and we are excited to partner with Corsair to build on this success through organic and inorganic growth opportunities for ongoing expansion. The corporate services and fund solutions sector is a core area of focus for BCI, and we look forward to generating attractive returns for our pension plan and insurance fund clients through this investment.”
Lazard acted as financial advisor and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett acted as legal advisor to Corsair. Weil Gotshal & Manges acted as legal advisor to BCI. Addleshaw Goddard acted as legal advisor to ZEDRA Management.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.
About ZEDRA
https://www.zedra.com/about-zedra/
ZEDRA is a global provider of Global Expansion and Corporate Services, Active Wealth and Fund Solutions. The firm’s highly experienced teams deliver tailored high-quality solutions to clients who include high net worth individuals and their families seeking diversified active wealth solutions, as well as, medium to large sized companies, corporate pension schemes, asset managers and their investors.
ZEDRA’s full range of services are designed to preserve and protect the real value of its clients’ assets and the firm’s entrepreneurial outlook helps and supports clients in unlocking their ambitions for growth and expansion, no matter how complex their challenges might be.
ZEDRA inherited a wealth of knowledge and experience following its acquisition of trust businesses of a renowned bank in 2016. This solid foundation combined with innovative thinking has allowed ZEDRA to grow rapidly in a competitive marketplace to a team of 680 industry experts across 16 countries spanning Asia, Oceania, the Americas and Europe. www.zedra.com
About Corsair
Corsair is a global specialist investment firm offering opportunities for investors and solutions for companies across financial & business services and infrastructure. The firm has almost three decades of experience partnering with businesses at the crossroads of technology transformation and financial services complexity and established its complementary infrastructure investment practice in 2015. Corsair has invested $12 billion in capital across its global buyouts and infrastructure platforms since inception. More information about Corsair can be accessed through https://corsair-capital.com/.
About BCI
With C$199.6 billion of assets under management as of March 31, 2021, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) is one of Canada’s largest institutional investors. Based in Victoria, British Columbia, BCI is a long-term investor that invests across a range of asset classes: fixed income; public equities; private equity; infrastructure; renewable resources; real estate; and commercial mortgages. BCI’s clients include public sector pension plans, insurance, and special purpose funds. BCI’s private equity program, with C$20.7 billion of assets under management, has a well-diversified portfolio comprised of direct and fund investments. The team brings industry expertise investing across financial and business services, healthcare, industrials, consumer, and TMT sectors. For more information about BCI, please visit www.bci.ca.