Solution Provider SS&C To Buy Wells Fargo Business Unit to Bolster Middle-, Back-Office Management

SS&C Technologies plans to purchase Wells Fargo Global Fund Services to strengthen its middle- and back-office management capabilities for hedge funds and private equity funds.

The Windsor, Conn.-based company, No. 36 on the 2016 CRN Solution Provider 500, said its acquisition of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo's 250-person GFS business unit will create a compelling advantage for SS&C's customers around accessing and managing sophisticated asset classes.

"Wells Fargo's Global Fund Services is well known for its expertise in administering real estate equity and credit strategies," Bill Stone, SS&C chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "This transaction will expand our capabilities in the global fund market, reinforcing SS&C at the forefront among fund administration and extending our strong cloud-based platform for future growth."

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GFS head Chris Kundro said becoming part of one of the largest and most reputable fund administrators in SS&C, which provides financial services software and software-enables services around the globe, will both benefit employees and create more value for customers. The business unit has more than 130 fund relationships in the U.S, United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong.

"Joining with SS&C will allow us to dramatically accelerate our global growth plans and pace of innovation," Kundro said in a statement. "SS&C's innovations in cloud, mobility and fund technology are transforming investment management."

Marrying GFS' customized solutions for single manager hedge funds, private equity funds and hybrid funds with SS&C's technology for managing sophisticated asset strategies will create a flexible and comprehensive platform for managing a fund's middle and back office, ensuring clients can take advantage of any market opportunity, the company said.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter, were not disclosed. SS&C executives were not immediately available for comment.

SS&C's stock was down 0.2 percent in trading Wednesday at $32.05 per share.

GFS provides administration, middle-office, operations and cash/collateral management services to alternative investment managers. The company administers more than $42 billion in alternative assets, covering a range of strategies from fixed income, structured credit and commodities to private equity, private debt and real estate.

Wells Fargo's fund administration business has offices in New York, Minneapolis, London, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The acquisition comes five months after SS&C bought a one-third stake in learning technology provider Nervanix of Naples, Fla. SS&C had a very active 2015 from an acquisition standpoint, purchasing Advent Securities for $2.7 billion in July, Citigroup's Alternative Investor Services business for $425 million in August, and Varden Technologies and Primatics Financial Holdings in September.

Those acquisitions had a major impact on SS&C's top line, with year-over-year sales climbing 75.3 percent in the most recent quarter from $212.8 million last year to $373.1 million this year. Net income, though, fell 27.9 percent from $39.1 million last year to $28.2 million this year.