January 9, 2018
Willkie represents Apex, a Genstar portfolio company, on this acquisition, which will add $50 billion in assets under administration and custody for the fund administrator.
On January 8, Apex Group Ltd., Genstar Capital and SALU Capital announced Apex's acquisition of Warburg’s Asset Management and Servicing business in Luxembourg. Upon completion of the transaction, Apex, a Genstar portfolio company, will have nearly $350 billion of AuA. Apex and Genstar partnered with SALU Capital on this transaction.
The transaction is the third for Apex in the space of six months following the acquisition of both Equinoxe Alternative Investment Services and Deutsche Bank's Alternative Fund Services business in 2017. This latest move helps to establish Apex's position as one of the fastest growing and one of the top five largest fund administrators globally. Willkie previously advised Genstar on the recapitalization of Apex and the acquisition of Equinoxe Alternative Investment Services “and Apex in its pending acquisition of Deutsche Bank's Alternative Fund Services.
The transaction, expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2018, will see Warburg Invest Luxembourg S.A. and M.M.Warburg & CO Luxembourg S.A. become part of Apex, adding a further $50bn to Apex's global AuA. With 32 offices worldwide, Bermuda-based Apex provides back office, middle office, regulatory reporting and other administrative services to a global customer base of asset managers across all asset classes.
The Willkie deal team was led by partners Georg Linde, Jeffrey Poss and Manuel Miranda and included partner Susanne Zuehlke; national partners Dr. Bettina Bokeloh and Henrietta de Salis; and associates Ryan Hartnett, Philipp Heuser, Ilie Manole, Andreas Sandberger and Sarah Wong.