IQ-EQ, an Astorg portfolio company, has today announced the acquisition of Agama Group, an independent regulatory compliance firm based in France and Luxembourg.
This transaction gives the global investor services group its first regulatory compliance presence in the region.
Established in 2013, Agama provides essential regulatory compliance, internal control and operations support to asset managers and funds across private equity, real estate and other asset classes. The group is made up of four business units, totalling 50+ professionals across offices in Paris and Luxembourg:
- Agama Conseil – France – ongoing support for internal control functions within asset managers
- Agama Services – France – formation, authorisation and approvals for new asset managers
- Agama Advisors – Luxembourg – RC, directorship and compliance services for Luxembourg funds
- BELT Solutions – France – RegTech SaaS solution supporting compliance officers within asset managers
Commenting on the acquisition, Mark Pesco (pictured), IQ-EQ’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “Continental Europe is ripe with commercial opportunity and represents an important strategic growth region for us. This acquisition not only speaks to that opportunity but cements our position as the leading provider of regulatory compliance services globally, adding to our established expert teams in the UK, the U.S. and Asia.
“Agama stands out as the clear market leader for regulatory compliance services in France, with a very strong reputation and brand recognition, as well as having a fast-growing business in Luxembourg that fits strategically with our existing business. So we’re truly thrilled to be welcoming them into the IQ-EQ fold and look forward to seeing all that we can achieve together.”
Diana Senanayake, Regional CEO for Continental Europe at IQ-EQ, added: “This is an incredibly exciting transaction for us; it adds a strong new string to our regional bow and we see excellent collaboration potential between our teams that will benefit our business and our clients. What’s more, Agama’s proprietary SaaS, BELT, is emerging as the leading RegTech solution for asset managers in France and there is considerable scope to develop this further in the region.
“Together, we’ll be working hard to maximise the significant potential our newly combined business has to offer as we strive to take both our continental European offering and our global regulatory compliance offering to the next level.”
