Equiniti, a specialist in technology, financial and administrative services, today announces that it has agreed the acquisition of Invigia Limited.
The Invigia group of companies includes Charter UK, Charter Systems and mycustomerfeedback.com and provides complaints, case and feedback management software and services for a wide range of entities, including financial services and public sector organisations. This includes the award winning software suite Charter Continuum which is used by some of the world's leading customer facing brands to improve customer relationships, reduce complaints and drive growth.
Invigia will strengthen the range of solutions Equiniti delivers to help organisations deal with regulation and change. This will add to the services already offered by financial services resource specialist Hazell Carr, as well as existing technology solutions in case management, data analysis and reporting. It will also allow Equiniti to capitalise on opportunities in new market territories including utilities, telecoms and other on-line customer facing verticals.
The transaction is subject to a Scheme of Arrangement becoming effective with Invigia shareholder approval and subsequent sanction of the Court. It is expected that the scheme will be effective from 15 Oct 2014. Invigia has received irrevocable undertakings from shareholders to vote in favour of the Scheme amounting to 85.94% of Invigia's issued ordinary share capital.
Guy Wakeley, Chief Executive of Equiniti, said: "Acquisition is an important part of Equiniti's story. As well as enabling us to broaden our offering to our clients by bringing new capability and expertise into our business it is also a proven driver of product development and organic growth, helping us consolidate our position as leader in our key markets.
"Invigia has been incredibly successful in helping businesses respond to increased regulation using smart technology - something which is at the heart of everything we do at Equiniti. It fits with our existing resourcing and technology capabilities, allowing us to provide a robust end-to-end remediation and customer service propositions. Invigia fits our criteria for acquisition - they are innovative, have a fantastic customer base aligned to our own and will take us into new market territory. We are delighted to welcome them on board."
Paul Clark, CEO, Invigia added: "Invigia is a leading technology group with a diverse product/market sector operational structure, focussing on compliance and insight solutions. It has a terrific Customer community that spans the mid-market to enterprise scale and includes equally high profile organisations from the public sector. Becoming part of the Equiniti Group will bring significant support and momentum to Invigia's growth ambitions and potential, both in terms of extending our target market penetration and in broadening and enriching our propositions. I see this is as a great development for Invigia's Customers and its dedicated staff and management teams and look forward to the journey ahead."
Separately, The Equiniti Group is delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of J.P. Morgan's Corporate Dealing Services business for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition completed on Monday 1 September.
The acquired business specifically provides dealing services for participants in all forms of share-based remuneration schemes, and this transaction further increases Equiniti's presence in the UK market. As part of the agreement, J.P. Morgan has partnered with Equiniti to continue to provide this service to its corporate broking clients.
Equiniti already manages around half of the FTSE 100 companies with respect to their share registration needs. The business transfers to Equiniti's Investment Services division, established over 10 years ago, and which holds in custody £17 billion of customer assets.
This is a further acquisition by Equiniti in the sector in the past four years. In 2011, Equiniti acquired the Corporate and Employees Services division of NatWest Stockbrokers and, in 2013, Equiniti acquired Killik's Employee Services business, a market leading provider of employee and executive share plan services.
Paul Matthews, managing director, Corporate Markets, Equiniti says; "The acquisition of J.P. Morgan's Corporate Dealing Services business further strengthens our position in this sector. All of the current staff are transferring to our head office in London and their skills, experience and knowledge will be an important addition to our team.
The acquisition also supports the Equiniti Group's continuing programme of selective investment in the financial services area and underlines our credentials for providing the highest levels of service and expertise in the area of brokerage and investment services."