Law firm splits from financial arm in buyout

(CNS Business): A management buyout of Appleby Fiduciary Business (AFB) by the private equity firm, Bridgepoint, at the end of 2015 has split the financial branch from the Appleby Group, creating two independent businesses. Farah Ballands, who will lead the AFB team as chief executive officer, said the deal was down to the growth of the fiduciary business and creating an independent firm would allow further expansion.

“AFB has grown significantly over the years with over 350 staff located across nine offshore jurisdictions,” she said. “With Bridgepoint’s expertise and support we look forward to building on this success and investing in new infrastructure to give our clients an unrivalled standard of service.

“The Appleby Group has provided us with a solid foundation from which to build our new fiduciary brand, which we expect to launch in the first quarter of 2016. The team is also busy working on a number of strategic initiatives that we look forward to communicating over the next few weeks, including the appointment of our new Chairman. This is the beginning of an exciting journey for us as an independent fiduciary business” Ballands added.

William Paul, partner and head of Bridgepoint’s financial services team, added, “The buyout brings significant opportunity for AFB as a standalone business to accelerate its growth organically and via acquisition, in what remains a strongly growing market.”

Category: Finance, Financial Services