King & Wood Mallesons has advised Electra Partners and its portfolio company Elian on the acquisition of SFM Europe, a leading provider of corporate services with more than €1 trillion of assets under administration.

Established in 1999, SFM Europe provides corporate services for the management of securitisations, structured and asset finance to global banks, investment managers and blue-chip corporates. The business, headquartered in London, has grown substantially in recent years by developing additional product offerings and opening in new geographies, with more than 100 staff in nine locations.

Electra Partners, an independent private equity fund manager with more than 25 years’ experience in the mid-market, initially invested £81 million in Elian in June 2014 as part of its £180 million buyout of Elian from parent company Ogier Group.

Chris Hanna, Partner at Electra Partners, said: "Since we acquired Elian, we have been seeking both organically and through acquisition to expand its international reach and add complementary product areas. SFM Europe achieves both of these objectives. We have worked hard with Paul Willing and his team to develop a promising M&A pipeline for the business and SFM Europe is the second acquisition we have announced this year. We continue to evaluate further strategic acquisition opportunities."

Paul Willing, CEO of Elian, said: "SFM Europe is an attractive business with an excellent reputation and a blue chip client base that is an outstanding strategic fit for Elian. The deal will complement Elian's corporate services team and extend the group's geographic reach in key European markets, while also providing further avenues for future growth."

Rob Day, Corporate partner at King & Wood Mallesons, said: “This transaction brought together a range of our capabilities to help our clients grow their business. Our EMEA M&A platform gives clients unrivalled access to high value, cross-border deals expertise around the world.”

The King & Wood Mallesons' team was led by Corporate partners Rob Day and Andrew Wingfield, with managing associates Gillian Grainge and Jennifer Cho. The full team consisted of over 30 lawyers from the firm’s Employment, Finance, IP, Tax, Real Estate and EU, Competition & Regulatory teams in London, Spain, Italy, Germany and Luxembourg.