Trust Estate
Intertrust Completes Elian Purchase

A deal that has been part of an M&A trend in the trusts sector has been completed.
Intertrust, the corporate services provider and global trust company, has completed its purchase of Elian from Electra Private Equity for £435 million ($564.3 million), as initially agreed in June. The move is part of a range of recent trust sector M&A deals.
The deal was completed after regulators approved the transaction.
As a combined group, the firms now operate from 42 offices in 31 financial markets around the world, employing 2,400 professionals.
The acquirer said in a statement that it expects there to be a “swift and smooth” integration process, causing minimal disturbance to clients.
Part of the integration will be the rebranding of Elian to Intertrust, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.
Earlier this month, Baring Private Equity Asia’s acquisition last October of a majority stake in Vistra Group and Orangefield Group led to Orangefield being rebranded under the Vistra name.
Over the past few years, M&A in the trusts sector has been busy, driven by a desire among some firms for scale and among others, a need to offload entities seen as unprofitable and a costly compliance burden. In 2014, Butterfield Group, part of Bermuda-headquartered Butterfield, completed its acquisition of Guernsey-based Legis Group, taking on its trusts and corporate services business. Salamanca, the UK-based Investec Trust Group; ABN AMRO sold its trusts business a decade ago to Equity Trust. Rival Netherlands-based firm ING spun off its trusts business in 2007. In the Channel Islands, deals have included investment by Close Brothers Private Equity in Jersey Trust Company and Kleinwort Benson’s acquisition of Close Brothers Offshore Group. In 2011, TMF and Equity Trust merged. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has completed the sale of its ANZ Trustees business to Equity Trustees.