Ogier advises on merger of leading fund administrators - Fulcrum Group and Butterfield Fund Services

Ogier has advised on the merger of two leading fund administration firms to create a major global force in the fund administration industry. Fulcrum Group, a leading global administrator for hedge funds and the alternative asset management industry, backed by global private equity firm, 3i, and Butterfield Fund Services (BFS), a top-twenty provider of administration services for investment and pension funds and part of The Bank of N. T. Butterfield & Son Limited (Butterfield), has announced, subject to regulatory and governmental approvals, an agreement to merge the two businesses to create Butterfield Fulcrum Group (BFG).

Butterfield Fulcrum Group will have approximately 400 employees across ten financial centres, with close to US$ 100 billion of assets under administration.

Fulcrum Group was established in Bermuda in 1995 and 3i made a significant investment in Fulcrum in 2007.  It now has offices in New York, London, Bermuda, Canada, Ireland, the Cayman Islands, and India.  Butterfield Bank recently celebrated its 150th anniversary and also has a network of global offices covering The Bahamas, The Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Malta, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.  The new entity will administer assets from nearly 1,000 hedge funds, fund of funds, private equity and investment management firms.

In conjunction with Travers Smith LLP, Ogier advised Fulcrum throughout on this transaction.  The Ogier team was led by partner, William Simpson, and Managing Associate, Frances Watson.

Frances Watson said “We are pleased to have been involved in such a significant merger of firms in the funds administration industry.”