Souter Investments has reached an agreement to sell Mobius Life, the leading independent provider of investment administration services to UK pension schemes, to Phoenix Equity Partners.
Phoenix will invest alongside the current management team, led by Mobius Life CEO Adrian Swales. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval. Terms have not been disclosed.
Mobius Life was acquired in a management buy-out backed by Souter Investments and Manfield Partners in 2014. Since acquisition the business has grown assets under administration from c.£3.0 billion to c.£17 billion, and it now provides value adding services to more than 550 institutional clients including pension scheme trustees, consultants and advisers, asset managers, and life insurance companies.
Adrian Swales, CEO of Mobius Life, commented: “We are grateful to Souter for their support in helping us develop a robust and scalable platform solution that offers our pension scheme customers and their advisers clear benefits and the best outcomes. The investment by Phoenix sets us up for our next exciting phase of growth and demonstrates confidence in our business, senior management and wider team to continue our track record of outstanding performance.”
Mobius Life provides investment administration services, via a UK life insurance structure, to UK defined benefit and defined contribution pension schemes to help them implement their investment strategies and meet their investment objectives. The company services its customers primarily through a technology platform, which assists scheme trustees, and the consultants that advise them, to select and acquire, manage, value and trade a wide range of assets efficiently and accurately.
Andy Macfie, Managing Director at Souter Investments, said: “Adrian and his team at Mobius Life have built a strong, market-leading business and a first-class, efficient and flexible independent platform for institutional corporate pension schemes. The strong growth in Mobius Life’s assets under administration and the widening range of clients Mobius Life serves underlines the attraction of the Company’s wide range of investment services and tailored investment solutions. We wish Adrian and his team every success in the future.”
Sandy Muirhead, Phoenix Equity Partners, said: “We are extremely excited at the prospect of working with Adrian and Mobius Life’s management team to take the business on to the next stage of its growth. Mobius Life has built an outstanding and unique position in the pensions market and, with the investment that we intend to make in its operational and distribution infrastructure, we see a clear opportunity for Mobius Life to increase its penetration of the institutional pension market and broaden its product offering whilst maintaining its best in class service levels.”
Souter Investments and Manfield Partners are being advised by Dentons and IMAS.
Phoenix Equity Partners is being advised by Addleshaw Goddard, Deloitte and Houlihan Lokey.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority
About Souter Investments
Souter Investments is one of the UK’s leading family investment offices specialising in private equity. Souter has investments in approximately 30 unquoted companies, acting both as a lead investor and as a co-investor with other financial sponsors. Souter’s portfolio includes FinTech online and ecommerce interest-free-only credit provider, DivideBuy; Pet Centar, the leading pet supplies retailer in South East Europe; and Ashtead Technology, which offers fully integrated equipment solutions to the subsea and onshore environmental monitoring and inspection sectors. Recent exits include the sale of OnniBus.com, First Scottish Group, Endura and Baywater Healthcare.
For more information visit www.souterinvestments.com.
About Mobius Life
Mobius Life is an authorised unit-linked UK life insurance company, helping UK institutional pension schemes and asset managers implement their investment strategies, and meet their investment objectives. The Company offers clients access to an investment platform operating within a life company structure, supported by a wide range of investment services. Uniquely, Mobius Life does not represent proprietary funds and therefore avoids conflicts of interest associated with proprietary fund providers.
For more information, visit: www.mobiuslife.com
About Phoenix Equity Partners
Phoenix Equity Partners is a leading private equity investor in medium-sized, UK-based companies. Founded in 2001, the firm has successfully invested more than £1bn in over 45 companies, across a wide range of sectors, backing entrepreneurs and management teams with bold plans to build great businesses. Phoenix is independently owned by its executives, managing funds on behalf of leading institutions from around the world. Phoenix has a successful track record of investing in technology-enabled businesses, including 2016 Fund investments in Nexus, GFS and Travel Chapter. Other recent investments include Nineteen Events and Capital Economics. Mobius Life would be Phoenix’s ninth investment in the 2016 Fund.
For more information, visit: www.phoenix-equity.com
For Souter Investments press enquiries please contact Gordon Beattie at Beattie Communications on 0800 612 9890.