Options, the leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global capital markets, today announced a significant investment by Bregal Sagemount, a New York-based private equity firm focused on growth-oriented investments. The transaction, which sees Bregal Sagemount invest nearly $100 million in Options, will enable the firm’s executive team to pursue strategic growth initiatives, invest further in platform innovations, and expand Options’ reach in key financial centers globally.
Options, founded in 1993 as a hedge fund technology services provider, has enjoyed a period of rapid growth in recent years and now finds itself as an established market leader in outsourced financial technology and managed IT services to global capital markets and financial services firms. This status has been underlined by recent client wins, which include some of the world’s leading financial institutions, asset managers, and funds. In the US alone, the firm’s revenues have more than doubled from 2014 to 2016.
In the same period, the firm has grown its staff from 110 to close to 200 and established a presence in London, New York, Belfast, Hong Kong, Singapore, Toronto, Dublin, Geneva, and the Caribbean. Bregal Sagemount’s investment will build on this momentum, enabling the management team to invest in the people and technology required to scale the business, while ensuring the ability to deliver multifaceted IT solutions and a customer centric engagement and support model is maintained.
Options CEO, Nigel Kneafsey, commented, “We are delighted to be working with Bregal Sagemount. Their investment in Options is an endorsement of the team, services, and technology we have built over the last 25 years. We believe that the rapid growth in the business in the last few years is underpinned by the accelerated wave of outsourcing in Financial Services IT globally. Sagemount is the perfect partner to support our mission to become a global power in this high growth sector.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Nigel, Danny, and the rest of the team at Options to support the Company’s next phase of growth,” said Bregal Sagemount Managing Partner, Gene Yoon. “The impressive success that Options has experienced over the past several years pays testament to the quality of the platform and the organization as a whole. We look forward to working closely with the Options team as we continue to expand our service delivery capabilities, develop additional offerings, and build a world-class organization in support of our customers.”
No further terms of the transaction were disclosed.
About Options
Options is the leading provider of cloud-enabled managed services to the global financial services sector. Founded in 1993, the company began life as a hedge fund technology services provider. More than a decade ago, the company made a strategic decision to become the first provider to offer cloud services to the financial sector. Today over 200 firms globally leverage the Options platform, including the leading global investment banks, hedge funds, funds of funds, proprietary trading firms, market makers, broker/dealers, private equity houses, and exchanges. Options was named among the UK’s leading growth companies in the 2017 Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table. For more on Options, please visit www.options-it.com, follow us on Twitter at @Options_IT and visit our LinkedIn page.
About Bregal Sagemount
Bregal Sagemount is a growth-focused private capital firm with $1.7 billion in committed capital. Founded in 2012, the firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount invests $8 million to $150 million per transaction into both control and non-control positions, and will make equity and/or junior debt investments. Targeted sectors include software, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT services, business and consumer services, and financial technology / specialty finance. For more information, please visit www.sagemount.com.
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Options Media Contact:
Sharon Mason
(646) 205-2563
sharon.mason@options-it.com
Bregal Sagemount Media Contacts:
Philip Nunes
BackBay Communications
(617) 391-0792
phil.nunes@backbaycommunications.com
Stephen Fishleigh
BackBay Communications
+44 203-475-7552
stephen.fishleigh@backbaycommunications.com
