Astorg buys Cobepa's SGG

José Rojo
11 September 2015

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French GP Astorg Partners has bought Luxembourg-headquartered fund administration service SGG Group from Belgian investment firm Cobepa.

With Astorg as new majority shareholder, SGG is aiming to expand from its current Luxembourg, Netherlands and Curaçao bases to new jurisdictions. The corporate and fund administration firm also has plans to expand its service offering.

The deal takes place five years after Cobepa became a majority shareholder in November 2010. The firm, a Belgian-headquartered evergreen investor, has since supported SGG as it grew via the bolt-on of advisory peers IMFC and Facts in 2011 and ANT in 2012. According to the company, the strategy has resulted in revenues doubling over the past five years.

According to unquote" data, Astorg's buyout marks its return to activity on the buy-side after the summer hiatus. The takeover of SGG is the firm's first since it picked up a majority stake in Carlyle-owned software developer Metrologic Group in a €200-250m SBO.

The transaction is also the second to feature a Luxembourg-headquartered fund services business in the past few weeks. In late August, French GP Blackfin Capital Partners scooped up Royal Bank of Scotland's Luxembourg fund operations amid privatisation plans for the state-owned bank.

Company
Established in the Netherlands in 1896, SGG initiated operations in Luxembourg in 1953 and is currently headquartered in the country. The business provides accounting, depositary, family office and corporate and fund administration services to clients from the corporate, real estate, infrastructure and private equity industries.

The company is active across all continents, with offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, Jersey, Malta, Cyprus, Dubai, the US, Panama, Curaçao, Barbados, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand, among others.

People
Astorg's work on the deal was led by partner François de Mitry, director Judith Charpentier, associate Benjamin Cordonnier and associate director Thomas Carbonel. Cobepa was represented by Jean-Marie Laurent Josi, Dirk Broekhuyse, Xavier de Walque and Arnaud de Cartier d'Yves. Serge Krancenblum is SGG's current CEO.

Advisers
Equity – Latham & Watkins (Legal).
Vendor – White & Case (Legal); Leonardo & Co (Corporate finance); ING (Corporate finance).