Private equity fund Bridgepoint and global growth equity investor Summit Partners want to acquire the trading and risk management systems vendor.
Calypso Technology is going down the private equity route and the cash infusion will help the trading and risk management systems vendor grow its investor base and take its offerings to the next level for demanding customers, officials say.
European private equity fund Bridgepoint and global growth equity investor Summit Partners announced that they are combining forces to take over Calypso. Financial details were not made public.
“Today’s announcement [April 19] sees the arrival of a new investor base with the financial strength and shared vision to support our growth ambitions,” says Pascal Xatart, president of Calypso, in a prepared statement. “Our goal now is to become the landmark financial software provider serving institutions with complex treasury and capital markets needs.”
The financial services industry puts “constant pressure on financial institutions to improve risk management and return on capital, while at the same time managing margins and increased regulation,” says Xavier Robert, partner responsible for Bridgepoint’s investments in the media and technology sector, in a prepared statement.
The industry push has created the need for integrated solutions able to cut operating costs, improve capital allocation and comply with regulations,’ Robert adds. “We will partner with management as they build on the company’s success to date, consolidating its market leadership by continuing to better serve its clients and realizing its true growth potential.”
Summit Partners is working with Calypso management and Bridgepoint because of “the core strengths of Calypso’s unified technology architecture,” says Scott Collins, managing director at Summit, in a statement.
Calypso, which launched 19 years ago, offers solutions for capital markets, investment management, central banking, treasury and liquidity, clearing and collateral. The vendor offers an integrated suite of trading and risk management solutions via a cross-asset, front-to-back office architecture.
Calypso’s clients include asset managers, clearinghouses, central banks, custodians, insurance companies and treasuries of large corporations. Company officials add that Calypso has more than 700 employees, operates a network of 22 offices in 19 countries, and employs more than 50 percent of its staff in research and development across five global development centers.
The transaction is subject to standard competition authority clearances, officials say. Debt for the transaction was provided by Goldman Sachs, UniCredit, Crédit Agricole, Mizuho and Bank of Ireland.
The advisors involved in the transaction were for Calypso, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati; and Credit Suisse, Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & Ellis, Bain & Company and EY worked with Bridgepoint and Summit Partners.
Bridgepoint has raised more than €20 billion ($23 billion) of capital to date, officials say. The firm focuses on acquiring companies that it deems have the potential to “grow organically or through acquisition.” The firm is investing €4 billion ($4.5 billion) in growth-oriented middle-market businesses in Europe.
Summit Partners is investing more than $7.2 billion into equity and fixed income opportunities, and has invested in more than 430 companies in technology, healthcare, life sciences and other growth sectors, say Summit officials. In the U.S., Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the U.K., the firm is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
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