FNZ acquires investment solution vendor Silica from Ninety One
Wealth management vendor FNZ has acquired South African investment vendor Silica from owner Ninety One.
Silica serves 1.3 million investor accounts
Ninety One, once called Investec Asset Management, set up Silica in 1999. The firm provides third-party administration and technology services.
Silica claims to service more than 1.3 million investor accounts representing €100 billion in assets under administration.
FNZ says the deal, the value of which is undisclosed, supports its expansion strategy in South Africa.
It adds Silica can thrive under an “independent owner dedicated to asset and wealth management infrastructure”.
“We are excited to be making a substantial investment in the South African asset and wealth management sector with the acquisition of Silica,” says Adrian Durham, FNZ group CEO.
“We admire the strong client franchise that Silica has created over the past 20 years and look forward to building on this excellent foundation.”
Kim McFarland, finance director at Ninety One, and chair of Silica, says her firm wanted to find a “strong, reputable partner to take Silica forward”.
“This transaction is a vote of confidence in the South African market, which has huge potential in business process outsourcing.”
FNZ is one of the more acquisitive wealth management firms in the market. In 2019 it secured the purchases of weathtech JHC, investment firm Ebase, and solutions provider GBST.
The GBST deal is currently under intense scrutiny from the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA moved to block the deal in August. It argued a merger between FNZ and GBST would hold close to 50% of the investment solutions market in the UK.
