Montagu buys Waystone from MML

Harriet Matthews
02 July 2021

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Montagu Private Equity has acquired Ireland-based fund governance and regulatory firm Waystone from MML Capital Partners.

Montagu aims to support Waystone in the development of its service offering, as well as with acquisitions to expand its geographical presence and product portfolio.

The GP is currently deploying equity via Montagu VI, which held a final close in June 2020 on €3.5bn, surpassing its €3bn target. Waystone will be the fund's fifth platform investment, according to Unquote Data, and follows the two SBOs announced by the GP in January 2021: analytics firm ITRS and animal reproduction and clinical imaging business IMV.

MML invested in Waystone (then known as DMS Group) in 2019. The company made a series of add-ons during the investment period and had made five acquisitions by December 2020. The company announced in March 2021 that it had merged with bolt-ons MDO and MontLake, resulting in the rebranding of the group as Waystone.

CVC provided debt to support Waystone's buy-and-build strategy, according to a statement from the firm in December 2020.

MML backed Waystone via MML Capital Partners VI, which held a final close in March 2016 on €438m. The fund deploys equity tickets of €10-50m, investing in companies based in the UK, the US and France.

Unquote sister publication Mergermarket reported in May 2021 that Waystone was up for sale, with both private equity buyers and PE-backed strategics showing interest in the process.

Company
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Dublin, Waystone provides investment fund governance, and regulatory and management services for fund managers. Its main services are European solutions, distributions, Cayman solutions, structured finance and compliance. The company serves clients with around $1tn in assets under management in total. The company has eight offices and 320 staff.

People
Montagu Private Equity – Tobias Weltin (director).
MML Capital Partners – Richard Mayers, Robert Devonshire (partners); Amar Shanghavi (investment director).
Waystone – Derek Delaney (global CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Raymond James, Stuart Sweeney (M&A); Linklaters (legal); PwC (financial due diligence).
Vendor – Baird, John Sun (M&A); Squire Patton Boggs, Julian Ciecierski-Burns (legal); Grant Thornton, Dara Kelly, Brian Murphy, Dwayne Price (corporate finance); Oliver Wyman, Sean Farrar (commercial due diligence); Lockton, Calvin Barnes (insurance due diligence); EY, Ari Constantinou (operational due diligence).
Management – Matheson, Padraic Roche (legal); Liberty Corporate Finance, Tim Thomas (corporate finance).