Rule Financial, an independent provider of business consultancy, IT consultancy and IT services to the global investment banking community, today announces its acquisition of North American consultancy, Waterline Group.
This strategic acquisition will accelerate Rule Financial's growth in North America, providing an entry point to the Canadian market, and will complement the consultancy's existing presence in New York. Waterline Group will be fully-absorbed into Rule Financial and will operate under the Rule Financial brand.
New York and Toronto-based Waterline Group has in-depth experience in capital markets - both buy-side and sell-side - working with a number of Canadian and US-based banks and trading organisations. As part of the acquisition, Rule Financial will integrate the Waterline Group leadership team into the Rule Financial fold. Chris DeBrusk will take responsibility for North American business development, Amrik Chawla will be Rule Financial's North American and US lead, Rob Schmidt will take responsibility for Rule Financial Canada and Rob McGeachy will be the North American delivery lead.
Chris DeBrusk, managing director, North American business development lead, said: "Our experienced team is highly complementary to the existing Rule Financial offering in North America, and I anticipate that joining Rule Financial will enable us to offer even more services, to more clients, and in larger projects across the financial services sector".
Chris Potts, CEO, Rule Financial, said: "As North American financial institutions race to align IT with a swathe of incoming regulation - such as Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule - Rule Financial is anticipating heightened demand for specialist consultancy services in the region. Acquiring Waterline Group provides both a route into these financial institutions, and the specialist support needed to cater for this increasing demand for investment banking consultancy. I am pleased to welcome the new consultants into the Rule Financial team and look forward to further building on the success of our North American operations as we continue to expand our services and recruit the most talented specialists working in financial services".
Rule Financial recently announced its expansion in London, New York and Łódź, Poland, including a number of senior hires. This is in support of the consultancy's year-on-year growth, with order intake for 2011 coming in ahead of target, and the company growing its footprint internationally, working with nine of the top ten global investment banks.