London, United Kingdom, 10 December 2021.
Pirum Systems (“Pirum”), a leading provider of post-trade automation and collateral management technology for the global securities finance industry, today announces that Hg, a leading software and services investor, will become a significant shareholder in the company.
Hg will share joint control with Pirum’s current backers Bowmark Capital, the technology and services investor, which invested in the company in 2019. The Pirum management team will also retain a significant stake in the business.
Pirum was founded in 2000 to provide advanced, centralised and secure reconciliation services for financial market participants. Pirum’s software provides a secure processing hub which seamlessly links industry participants, allowing them to process and verify key transaction details electronically. This delivers significant trade and collateral efficiency, lowers costs and enhances regulatory compliance for its network of clients. Pirum’s products assist 90 of the most prestigious global financial institutions to process over $3 trillion of transactions daily.
Under the stewardship of Bowmark and Pirum’s executive team, the business has successfully rolled-out a leading regulatory reporting offering, while building a suite of new products automating collateral management, repo, and front office activities. Hg’s financial services technology credentials and international footprint will enable Pirum to further drive workflow automation, address regulatory requirements, and enhance innovation across the sector.
“This is a significant milestone in our journey, and is welcome news for everyone at Pirum. Together with Bowmark, Hg will actively support Pirum’s global expansion and investment in additional innovations, helping us to deliver further efficiency and productivity gains for our customers and the broader industry eco-system.”
Philip Morgan, Chief Executive Officer at Pirum
“Hg invests in businesses that are champions in their field, with compelling long-term growth prospects underpinned by strong technological foundations and talented leadership teams. Pirum has all of these qualities and is a business we have tracked for many years through our capital markets technology focus. We look forward to backing Phil and his team, and to partnering with Bowmark to further scale what is already a great platform, driving continued automation of post-trade workflows.”
Sebastien Briens, Partner at Hg
“We have known Pirum and its team for over a decade, and the business has achieved uninterrupted revenue and profit growth during this period. Pirum has a strong track record of product innovation and best-in-class client services, which continuously enhance its propositions for collateralised markets. We are delighted to welcome a new partner in Hg, whilst continuing to work closely with the management team.”
Julian Masters, Managing Partner at Bowmark Capital
The terms of the transaction are not disclosed and the transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The Hg team was led by Sebastien Briens and Steve Burn-Murdoch, and was advised by Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (legal) and Linklaters (debt legal). Julian Masters and Antonia Cheong led the Bowmark Capital team. Jefferies International Limited served as financial adviser, and Stephenson Harwood LLP served as legal counsel, to Bowmark Capital and Pirum. The management team of Pirum were advised by Jamieson Corporate Finance LLP and Ashurst LLP.
Media Contacts:
Pirum Systems
Anna Conti Manfrin
anna.conti@pirum.com
+44 20 3105 6088
Hg
Tom Eckersley
Tom.Eckersley@hgcapital.com
+44 208 148 5401
Bowmark Capital
Caroline Cecil
Caroline Cecil Associates
ccecil@carolinececil.co.uk
+44 20 7610 4110
About Pirum
Pirum offers a secure, centralised automation and connectivity hub for global securities finance, enabling complete automation of the post-trade and collateral lifecycle across repo and stock loan. Our position within the securities financing sector enables clients to seamlessly access counterparties, triparty agents, trading venues, market data companies and CCPs, as well as meet their regulatory reporting requirements. We combine an in-depth understanding of both the securities finance industry and the most advanced technologies to provide highly innovative and flexible services. Supporting established and emerging financial institutions, Pirum’s pioneering approach consistently reduces operational risk while increasing processing efficiency and profitability.
Pirum’s innovations and customer focus have resulted in widespread industry recognition. Pirum has won multiple awards in recent years including Global Post-Trade Service Provider of the Year at the International Securities Finance Awards, and our Collateral Connect product secured Best Software Solution.
Visit www.pirum.com for more information.
About Hg
Hg is a growth platform of software and services champions, focused on backing businesses that change how we all do business. Deep technology expertise, complemented by vertical application specialisation and dedicated operational support, provides a compelling proposition to management teams looking to scale their businesses. Hg has funds under management of around $40 billion, with an investment team of over 140 professionals, plus a portfolio team of around 40 operators, providing practical support to help our businesses to realise their growth ambitions. Based in London, Munich and New York, Hg has a portfolio of over 40 software and technology businesses, worth around $92 billion aggregate enterprise value, with over 55,000 employees globally, growing at over 20% per year.
To date, Hg has invested over $1 billion specifically in Wealth & Capital Markets software. Pirum will represent the 10th platform investment in this space, with current Hg investments including Riskalyze, FE fundinfo, smartTrade and Gen-II.
Visit www.hgcapital.com for more information.
About Bowmark Capital
Bowmark Capital is a leading private equity firm that invests in UK services and technology companies. Established in 1997, we manage and advise funds of over £1.5 billion and have made more than 50 investments.
With our strategic support and capital, we work in partnership with management teams to accelerate growth and build exceptional businesses. Find out more at www.bowmark.com and LinkedIn.
Bowmark Capital LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
