Vermeg buys regtech firm Lombard Risk for £52m
Vermeg buys regtech firm Lombard Risk for £52m
Vermeg, a securities processing and fund administration software vendor based in the Netherlands, has now officially taken over UK-based Lombard Risk.
Lombard Risk, which specialises in risk management and regtech solutions, has been bought by Vermeg in an all-cash deal, valuing the company at £52.08 million.
Lombard Risk was founded in 1989 by John Wisbey, who also led the company until May 2015. Although he then relinquished the CEO role and left the firm “to pursue other opportunities”, he remained its significant shareholder (with a 36% stake).
In 2016, he founded Convendia, a provider of cloud-based forecasting solutions to boards and management.
In a LinkedIn post, he describes the completion of the Lombard Risk acquisition as “a big landmark for the company”.
“My thanks to all the loyal colleagues who worked at Lombard Risk for many years to build excellent risk and regulatory products and deep client relationships, and to our wonderful customers drawn from over 250 financial institutions,” he says.
According to an announcement made by Vermeg on the London Stock Exchange in January, once the acquisition is completed, “Lombard Risk will operate as it does today under its existing executive management team within the Vermeg Group”.
Badreddine Ouali, founder and chairman of Vermeg, emphasises that his company “regards the management and employees of Lombard Risk as key to the ongoing success of the combined entity”.
He adds: “With highly complementary offerings and minimal overlap regarding geographies and product portfolio, the combination provides a strong platform for future growth and value creation.”
Philip Crawford, chairman of Lombard Risk, notes “very strong commercial logic” of the merger, as he sees the “value at a level in excess of the risk adjusted prospects of Lombard Risk on a standalone basis”.
Vermeg was founded in 1993 in Tunisia. Its HQ is now in Amsterdam and it has offices in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Tunisia. It employs 700 people and has 150+ financial institutions on its client list.
