Hg to invest in Financial Express

Under its new ownership structure, FE will look to undertake an international expansion strategy.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though the GP drew capital for the transaction from Mercury 2 Fund, a technology-focused vehicle that closed on its £575m hard-cap in February 2017. The vehicle most recently acquired medical practice software provider MediFox from German buyout firm ECM Equity Capital Management in a deal valued at €91.2m.

The FE transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Company
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Woking, Surrey, FE provides data, software and performance analytics to the UK and Australian retail investment funds markets. Its clients include investors, advisers, asset managers and third-party-operated platforms. According to publicly available documents, FE generated a turnover of £31.5m in the year ending on September 2017, with an operating profit of £3.1m.

People
Hg – Sebastien Briens (partner).
Financial Express – Michael Holland, Craig Wilson (founders); Neil Bradford (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Cardean Bell (M&A); Linklaters (legal); Deloitte (financial due diligence, tax).
Company – Portico Capital (M&A); Travers Smith (legal); EY (financial due diligence, tax).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Technology
• United Kingdom
• HgCapital
• Linklaters
• Deloitte
• EY (Ernst & Young)
• Travers Smith