The Carlyle Group takes majority stake in Calastone

Calastone management retain a minority stake in the business under the deal

Private equity and alternatives fund house The Carlyle Group is set to take a majority stake in Calastone, with the world's largest funds network set for its "next phase of its development and growth".

The transaction, which is being advised by Barclays, will see Calastone management retain a minority stake in the business, and will support the business' growth plans and international expansion.

The Carlyle Group's stake will be bought for an undisclosed fee from existing shareholders, including Octopus Ventures and Accel, which were a major part of an $18m investment round in 2013.

The 2013 investment was intended to "accelerate the company's global growth strategy, with a focus on Asia Pacific and Europe, in addition to expanding its product range", according to a statement made at the time.

Founded in 2007, Calastone now serves over 2,300 clients across 43 territories, processing £200bn of investment value each month.

In May 2019, it launched its Distributed Market Infrastructure (DMI), which enables the automation and digitalisation of the fund transaction process via distributed ledger technology.

The firm has since diversified its strategy to develop from purely mutual fund services to offer automated fund services to the money market funds sector.

CEO of Calastone Julien Hammerson said: "We have made great strides in the past decade to meet the needs of our customers and their investors in reducing friction and costs within the mutual fund industry.

"We have continued to expand internationally and created new opportunities in money market funds.

"Everyone at Calastone has much to be proud of and there is huge potential for growth based on the technology platform and unique service offering we have created.

"We are delighted to have the full support of The Carlyle Group to capitalise on this opportunity and take the company forward into the next phase of its development and growth."

Managing director in The Carlyle Group's advisory team Fernando Chueca added: "Calastone is a global leader and innovator in the funds technology industry, a large and growing market.

"Since its inception, the company has achieved remarkable growth through replacing legacy and complex workflows with truly innovative solutions for its clients.

"We are delighted to partner with Julien and the management team and look forward to leveraging our global platform, network of relationships, and deep expertise in Financial Services and Technology to support Calastone in its next phase of growth."