Thu, Mar 28, 2024
A A A
Welcome Guest
Free Trial RSS pod
Get FREE trial access to our award winning publications
Industry Updates

IQ-EQ acquires Blue River Partners

Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Opalesque Industry Update - IQ-EQ is delighted to announce the acquisition of Blue River Partners, an industry leading U.S. provider of outsourced solutions to alternative asset managers. This strategic combination immediately transforms IQ-EQ into a major player in the U.S. private equity and hedge fund services market. The newly combined IQ-EQ U.S. operation will total 200 people in the U.S. as a result of this transaction.

Founded in 2009, Blue River pioneered back-office outsourcing for alternative asset managers, and has grown to become an industry leader, servicing more than 400 clients across the U.S. and employing approximately 180 team members across its 7 office locations - Dallas (HQ), Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, New York, Chicago and San Francisco. The firm provides fund administration to private equity funds; fund operations, middle office and outsourced CFO services to hedge funds; management company operations services; as well as regulatory compliance solutions across all advisory structures. In addition, Blue River's offering includes tax compliance and advisory services; IT and cybersecurity consulting and managed services; as well as a host of operations, tax and IT services to portfolio companies and assets owned by private equity funds.

IQ-EQ's worldwide platform combined with Blue River's broad service offering creates one of the leading alternative fund administration and outsourced services providers in the U.S. A shared entrepreneurial approach coupled with a strong focus on providing high levels of client service positions the newly combined entity as the provider of choice for alternative asset managers.

Blue River's founding partners, Mark Fordyce, Chief Executive Officer and Michael Minces, President, will assume the leadership of IQ-EQ's U.S. operations.

On announcing this acquisition, Group Executive Chairman Serge Krancenblum commented:

"The acquisition of Blue River marks a key milestone for us as it strategically increases our presence in the U.S., the largest and fastest growing fund administration and regulatory compliance market in the world, cementing our position as one of the top 4 investor services firms globally. We have been impressed by Blue River's growth and professionalism. Under the leadership of Mark Fordyce and Michael Minces we will be in an extremely strong position to capitalize on market opportunities in the U.S. On behalf of IQ-EQ I'm delighted to welcome the entire Blue River team to the Group and look forward to working together to showcase the combined strength of our offering."

Mark Fordyce, Chief Executive Officer and founding partner of Blue River, added:

"As we met with the management team of IQ-EQ, it quickly became apparent that our two firms take the same approach to business - hiring teams of very talented, experienced professionals and providing exceptional client service. We are excited to join forces with a firm that is like-minded when it comes to client service. This acquisition is incredibly strategic as it will allow Blue River to provide global capabilities and solutions to our clients and give us a greater ability to scale with our clients as they grow and expand their businesses. For the Blue River team, not only does being part of a larger, global organization make perfect sense from a business perspective, it also offers significant benefits to each member of our team in terms of career progression and personal development opportunities. We look forward to working with the IQ-EQ team and are highly confident that together we will make a permanent and positive impact on the alternative asset industry."

What do you think?

   Use "anonymous" as my name    |   Alert me via email on new comments   |   
Previous Opalesque Exclusives                                  
Previous Other Voices                                               
Access Alternative Market Briefing

 



  • Top Forwarded
  • Top Tracked
  • Top Searched
  1. KKR raises $6.4bn for the largest pan-Asia infrastructure fund[more]

    Laxman Pai, Opalesque Asia: The New York-based global investment firm KKR has raised a record $6.4bn for its second Asia-focused infrastructure fund, underlining investors' continued appetite for private markets. According to a media release from the alternative assets manager, the figure top

  2. Bucking the trend, top hedge fund makes plans for a second SPAC[more]

    From Institutional Investor: SPACs aren't dead. At least not to the folks at Cormorant Asset Management. The life sciences firm, whose hedge fund topped its peers in 2023, is confident it will match the success of its first blank-check company. Last week, the life sciences and biopharma speciali

  3. Benefit Street Partners closes fifth fund on $4.7 billion[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York: Benefit Street Partners has closed its fifth flagship direct lending vehicle, BSP Debt Fund V, with $4.7 billion of investable capital across the strategy. Benefit Street invests primarily in privately originated, floating rate, senior secured loans. The fun

  4. 4 hedge fund themes that are working in 2024[more]

    From The Street: A poor earnings report from Tesla (TSLA) has not hurt the indexes on Thursday. The decline in Tesla stock, which is losing its position in the Magnificent Seven pantheon, is more than offset by strong earnings from IBM (IBM) and ServiceNow (NOW) . In addition, the much higher-t

  5. Opalesque Exclusive: A global macro fund eyes opportunities in bonds[more]

    Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York for New Managers: Munich-based ThirdYear Capital rebounded in 2023, following a tough year for global macro. The firm's flagship ART Global Macro strategy finished the year up 1