London Stock Exchange's $1.1 billion deal could boost tech in the US

The London Stock Exchange's $1.1 billion sale of back-office technology to prominent U.S.-based private equity players could be a boon for the advice industry on this side of the pond.

Private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Motive Partners on Monday announced the acquisition of Beta+ and its assets. The business line includes three companies, Beta, which handles back-office technology like securities processing and custody; Maxit, a cost and tax reporting software; and Digital Investor, which offers front-end client tools.

Beta+’s business line brought in $300 million in revenue for the London Stock Exchange collectively in 2021, which was primarily linked to U.S. markets, according to the company. The platform already has approximately $6 trillion in assets from some of the largest American wealth management firms, including Vanguard Group Inc. and LPL Financial, according to reports, and is now backed by the two prominent wealth management PE firms.

“Beta+, together with our other portfolio companies, will be focused on creating frictionless, digital-first experiences for clients, advisers and home office personnel,” Motive co-founder Stephen Daffron said in a statement, adding that the new tech will help reduce costs and streamline processes.

Motive Partners already owns equity stakes in a handful of wealth management companies, like cloud-based tech giant InvestCloud, alternative investment giant CAIS, and FNZ, a global wealthtech provider. Clearlake also has equity positions in InvestCloud, which merged with Tegra118 in February of last year to create a combined firm with an estimated valuation of $10 billion, according to Bloomberg.

California-based InvestCloud is already an international tech platform for advisers that supports more than $6 trillion in assets for over 550 companies, including some of the world’s largest wealth managers.

The PE backers plan to build out infrastructure on the back end, enhance functionality for their existing clients, and enter new and high-growth markets. Clearlake and Motive continue to execute a similar strategy with InvestCloud, according to the release.

“We're looking forward to partnering with Clearlake once again to continue our transformation of the wealth management sector at a critical time for the industry,” Daffron said in the statement.