Secondary Buyout • Financial Services

The Carlyle Group Acquires Calastone

On October 26, 2020, private equity firm The Carlyle Group acquired financial services company Calastone from Octopus Investments

Acquisition Context
  • This is The Carlyle Group’s 48th transaction in the Financial Services sector.
  • This is The Carlyle Group’s 45th transaction in the United Kingdom.
Investment Fate
  • Calastone was sold to a publicly-traded strategic buyer in 2025 for 766M GBP.

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M&A Deal Summary

Date October 26, 2020
Target Calastone
Sector Financial Services
Buyer(s) The Carlyle Group
Sellers(s) Octopus Investments
Deal Type Secondary Buyout
Advisor(s) Barclays Investment Bank (Financial)

Target Company

Calastone

London, United Kingdom
Calastone is a global funds network, that connects the world’s major financial organizations. Calastone's mission is to help the asset management industry transform by creating innovative new ways to automate and digitalize the global investment funds marketplace, reducing frictional costs, and lowering the operational risk to the benefit of all. Calastone was formed in 2007 and is based in London, England.
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Buyer Overview 1

Buyer

The Carlyle Group

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1987
PE ASSETS 435.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.
Carlyle's corporate headquarters on Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.

The Carlyle Group is a global investment firm that pursues private equity, credit, and real estate investments worldwide. Carlyle's private equity practice practice pursues buyouts, strategic minority equity investments, equity private placements, consolidations and buildups, and growth capital financings. With offices in 19 countries, Carlyle can easily target opportunities throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East/North Africa and Latin America. Broad sectors of interest include aerospace, defense, automotive and transportation, consumer, retail, energy and power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology services, business services, telecommunications and media. The Carlyle Group was formed in 1987 and is based in Washington DC.


Deal Context for Buyer #
Overall 681 of 750
Sector: Financial Services 48 of 48
Type: Secondary Buyout 106 of 130
Country: United Kingdom 45 of 53
Year: 2020 17 of 25
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-10-01 AA Insurance

Dublin, Ireland

AA Insurance is a roadside assistance provider and insurance intermediary. It provides roadside repair and Rescue, and Motor, Home, Travel & Life insurance. It also provides technical and audit services notably for the Road Safety Authority. AA Insurance was founded in 2016 and is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2020-10-29 Flender

Bocholt, Germany

Flender is a drive technology company with a comprehensive product and service portfolio that includes gearboxes, couplings, and generators for a wide variety of industries. The business is particularly strong in Wind, a sector benefitting from secular tailwinds given its increasing importance in the energy mix. Flender was formed in 1899 and is based in Bocholt, Germany.

Buy $2.0B

Seller Profile 1

SELLER

Octopus Investments

London, United Kingdom

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Asset Manager
Founded 2000
PE ASSETS 9.9B GBP
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Octopus Investments is a private equity group that invests in lower middle-market UK based companies. Octopus looks to invest in buyouts, buy-ins, industry consolidations, and situations requiring development capital. Octopus' target investment size is £300k to £5 million in sectors such as business services, food/beverage, education and training, environmental services, media, marketing, healthcare, consumer, retail, leisure, and manufacturing. The Firm seeks businesses with a sustainable competitive advantage, whether through a unique product, IP, brand names or trade marks. Octopus Private Equity was formed in 2004 and is based in London.


Deal Context for Seller #
Overall 32 of 41
Sector: Financial Services 2 of 2
Type: Secondary Buyout 5 of 6
Country: United Kingdom 31 of 39
Year: 2020 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2019-12-23 Zynstra

Bath, United Kingdom

Zynstra Ltd. is a software company run by highly experienced technology entrepreneurs. Zynstra Ltd. has a proven track record of anticipating crucial developments in information technology – those that can be leveraged to deliver innovatively, game-changing business software and delivering that step change in partnership with some of the most complex and rigorous IT organizations in the world.

Sell £100M
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2021-02-01 e-Therapeutics

London, United Kingdom

e-Therapeutics is a systems biology drug discovery company. The Company are industrialising discovery using computers to predict the effects of intervention on proteins in cells. New drugs are identified systematically and very quickly. e-Therapeutics was founded in 2001 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Sell -