IQ-EQ, an Astorg portfolio company, has acquired Constellation Advisers, a US co-sourced and outsourced investment management services provider.
The acquisition will be IQ-EQ’s second in the US over the last 12 months, following the acquisition of Blue River Partnersat the beginning of last year.
Founded by Boris Onefater, CEO and co-founder, and Greg Farrington, president and co-founder, Constellation Advisers provides customised solutions to traditional and alternative investment management firms.
These firms include private equity, real estate, private credit, venture capital, hedge funds and family offices.
Following this acquisition, IQ-EQ’s newly combined US business is said to total more than 320 US-based employees with scale in regulatory compliance, fund administration and outsourced services.
With immediate effect, Mark Fordyce, CEO of Blue River and IQ-EQ US Funds, will assume overall responsibility for the group’s expanded US operations.
Constellation Advisers co-founders, Onefater and Farrington, will assume the roles of chairman, global head of outsourced services and president and head of outsourced services, Americas, respectively.
IQ-EQ will retain the Constellation Advisers brand name in the short to medium term and will move to rebrand the business to IQ-EQ as part of its longer term business strategy.
IQ-EQ group executive chairman Serge Krancenblum commented: “This latest transaction represents yet another significant milestone made possible by the ongoing investment in our US operations and takes us one step closer to realising our longer term commercial ambitions in the region.”
Fordyce said: “The addition of the 100 plus Constellation Advisers team brings the total US headcount to more than 320, giving the combined firm increased scale and presence in all key financial markets across the US and the ability to successfully leverage the depth and strength of the entire IQ-EQ Group operating across all of our 23 strategic jurisdictions around the globe.”
Onefater added: “Farrington and I along with the entire Constellation management team are delighted to join the IQ-EQ family. Our two firms share the same entrepreneurial spirit and we look forward to working with Blue River here in the US and IQ-EQ globally to help our clients meet their objectives not only in the US, but around the world.”
Seward & Kissel LLP represented Onefater and Farrington, the co-founders of Constellation Advisers, in connection with this transaction.
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