M and A
ZEDRA Enhances European Footprint With Another Purchase
The provider of trust, fiduciary, corporate and fund services is establishing a presence in the Netherlands.
ZEDRA has agreed to acquire Netherlands-based Allied Corporate Services for an undisclosed sum.
Amsterdam-based Allied provides corporate, administrative and financial services to both corporate and private clients. ZEDRA plans to double the size of the Dutch business over the next two-to-three years. Ramon Zuketto and Peter Luc Oei will remain at the helm of Allied.
“ZEDRA is expanding its existing international network with the addition of operations in the Netherlands. The combination of being a member of the European Union and having concluded tax treaties with a large number of countries, makes the Netherlands a particularly attractive base for domiciling international business operations,” said Niels Nielsen, group chief executive at ZEDRA.
“We are confident that Allied’s team will add considerable value to our operations both here in the Netherlands and across ZEDRA’s global network, and will reinforce our capabilities in the corporate trust sector, in particular.”
The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, follows the firm's recent acquisition of Azure Trust Jersey and its entry into Hong Kong earlier this year. ZEDRA said it comes as part of the firm's growth drive in private client markets, specifically to enhance its range of corporate and fund services for institutional, family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
The firm now employs 300 people across nine jurisdictions, with offices in Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the Cayman Islands, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and Switzerland. ZEDRA was acquired from Barclays in January this year by an independent investor group. Barclays retains a 19.9 per cent stake in the firm.
The trusts, fiduciary and corporate services field has seen a number of M&A deals in recent weeks and months. Another firm, Vistra Group, for example, this week said it has acquired Intro International, a corporate services provider in Singapore, for an undisclosed sum. Vistra is based in Hong Kong. In June, the group acquired India-based Ujwal Management Services Private. In April, it bought IL&FS Trust Company, also in India.
