Clearlake Capital and Motive Partners to acquire BETA, Maxit, and Digital Investor from LSEG, adding new capabilities to their wealth ecosystem, and forms a strategic partnership between BETA+, the Sponsors' portfolio companies and LSEG
SANTA MONICA, Calif. and NEW YORK and LONDON, March 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. ("Clearlake") and Motive Partners ("Motive" and collectively, the "Sponsors"), today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the BETA+ assets from London Stock Exchange Group ("LSEG"), which encompasses the assets of BETA (securities processing, custody, clearing, and asset servicing technology), Maxit (cost and tax basis reporting software), and Digital Investor (front-end client solutions), collectively referred to as "BETA+". Additionally, Clearlake and Motive Partners have simultaneously formed a long-term strategic partnership with LSEG, in which LSEG will provide content, data, and tools to BETA+ and the Sponsors' other portfolio companies.
The wealth management industry continues to demonstrate opportunities, bolstered by tailwinds across the spectrum including a significant movement in technology modernization, industry consolidation, increases in retail trading, and democratization of the capital markets. Over recent years, the space has exhibited growth across various avenues, compounded by investment from new and established players. This has presented opportunities for well-placed investors and innovators to digitize legacy technology, expand product offerings to address unmet demand, and create efficiencies along the value chain.
Clearlake and Motive's thesis in wealth management technology focuses on providing the Wealth Management industry with frictionless digital experiences, catalyzing the democratization of wealth solutions, and delivering hyper-personalized solutions to end clients. By acquiring the BETA+ assets from LSEG and creating a standalone platform, Clearlake and Motive intend to execute on a buy and build strategy, supported by Clearlake's proprietary O.P.S.® framework and Motive's value creation plan developed by Motive Create and the Industry Partner team. This will include building critical platform infrastructure on the back-end of the Wealth workflow, with a plan to utilize proprietary expertise and know-how to augment the core BETA+ platform technology, enhance functionality for the existing blue-chip client set, enter new and high-growth markets, and cultivate partnerships within the combined Wealth ecosystems of the Sponsors. Clearlake and Motive continue to execute on a similar thesis with their existing portfolio company, InvestCloud. The Sponsors are also focused on the long-term strategic partnership between BETA+, the Sponsors' other portfolio companies and LSEG, to offer new products and greater operational efficiencies to clients across these various platforms.
"BETA+ has established a strong position in the self-clearing technology space and broader wealth management ecosystem with a reputation for meeting the unique needs of global financial institutions and their clients," said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and James Pade, Partner of Clearlake. "We look forward to partnering with Motive Partners, the BETA+ team, and LSEG as the company continues to provide best-in-class solutions to its blue-chip customer base."
"BETA+, together with our other portfolio companies, will be focused on creating frictionless, digital-first experiences for clients, advisors, and home office personnel with streamlined processes, reduced costs, and increased retention and satisfaction, ultimately making it easier for Wealth clients to obtain solutions which address their financial needs. We're looking forward to partnering with Clearlake once again to continue our transformation of the wealth management sector at a critical time for the industry," said Stephen C. Daffron, Co-Founder and Industry Partner of Motive Partners.
The Sponsors were advised by Wells Fargo as exclusive financial advisor, Sidley Austin LLP as legal counsel, Deloitte as accounting, tax, carveout and human resources counsel, BCG as commercial advisor, and Motive Create for technical due diligence. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP also acted as legal counsel for Motive Partners. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
About Clearlake
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is an investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to businesses that can benefit from Clearlake's operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm's core target sectors are technology, industrials, and consumer. Clearlake currently has over $60 billion of assets under management, and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 300 investments. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, CA with affiliates in Dallas, TX and London, UK. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @Clearlake.
About Motive Partners
Motive Partners is a specialist private equity firm with offices in New York City and London, focusing on control-oriented growth equity and buyout investments in software and information services companies based in North America and Europe and serving five primary subsectors: Banking & Payments, Capital Markets, Data & Analytics, Investment Management and Insurance. Motive Partners brings differentiated expertise, connectivity and capabilities to create long-term value in financial technology companies.
More information on Motive Partners can be found at www.motivepartners.com
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the expected timing and benefits of the transaction. Statements can generally be identified as forward-looking because they include words such as "believes," "anticipates," "expects," "could," "should," or words of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. The factors that may adversely impact the anticipated outcomes include, among others: the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of the transaction agreement; conditions to the completion of the transaction may not be satisfied on the terms expected or on the anticipated timeline; and the benefits of the transaction may be different than currently anticipated. You should consider these factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements. Clearlake and Motive Partners assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release.
For more information please contact:
JENNIFER HURSON
Clearlake Media Contact - Lambert
+1-845-507-0571
jhurson@lambert.com
SAM TIDSWELL-NORRISH
Managing Director, Motive Partners
+447855910178
sam@motivepartners.com
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