Link Group Portfolio Investments, Link Group Funds, Link Group Exits

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Australian-headquartered share registry and specialist Business Process Services (BPS) firm Link Group announced yesterday that it is to sell London-based Link Fund Solutions for up to £140m to Dublin-based Waystone Group. Link has also reached a deal with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority to settle an investigation into the management of the now-defunct LF Woodford Equity Income Fund. Under the deal, some 300,000 investors will receive a share of a combined £235m redressal payment. Link Group entered the UK BPS market through its 2017 £888m acquisition of Capita’s Asset Services Division and competes with the likes of Equiniti and Computershare in the specialist Financial Services outsourcing space. Link is also the largest provider of services in Australia’s superannuation fund administration and its Fund Solutions business is an independent provider of Authorised Fund Manager and administrative services for some £160bn of assets under oversight and administration. This is major deal for Waystone which is looking improve its ability to service a broader pool of investment managers and sponsors and bring a greater number of products and services to the market. The acquisition, which follows the purchase of T. Bailey Fund Services last year, should broaden the firm’s UK offering to include transfer agency and alternative administration services and expands its administration offering following the acquisition of Centaur Fund Administration in January of this year. The deal will see some 600 staff globally join Waystone, including the establishment of the Group’s first office in India.