Lovell Minnick Partners, LLC, a private equity firm specializing in financial and related business services companies, today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in Foreside Financial Group, LLC (“Foreside”).  Foreside provides a variety of regulatory compliance and distribution solutions to clients in the investment management industry.  Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Established in 2005 and based in Portland, Maine, Foreside has quickly grown to become a U.S. market leader in its space, and enjoys an excellent reputation as a best-in-class service provider across its mix of services.  The company is led by Chief Executive Officer Richard Berthy and President Dave Whitaker, who will remain shareholders and continue in their current management roles.

Foreside delivers outsourced services to investment advisers and broker dealers, including the financial products they manage or distribute. Servicing over $800 billion of fund products, Foreside offers outsourced solutions for legal underwriting, FINRA licensing, compliance consulting, fund officer services and trust governance.  Demand for Foreside’s services is likely to continue to grow as a result of increasing and costly fund compliance requirements, growing risk management needs, new fund launches, AUM growth and greater cross-border investment activity.

“Our relationship with Lovell Minnick goes back many years, and we share a strategic vision to achieve greater scale in our core distribution and compliance services for investment managers and their funds, both in the U.S. and offshore markets,” said Berthy.  “Lovell Minnick has an excellent track record of partnering with financial services firms in the investment management industry, and their capital and strategic insight will help us grow our client base and offerings while ensuring that we continue to deliver first class service.”

Lovell Minnick believes the market opportunity for outsourced fund and compliance services is compelling.  The firm holds ownership stakes in several of Foreside’s existing clients, including 361 Capital, Chartwell Investment Partners, and Matthews International Capital Management.

“As one of the most respected outsourced service providers in the asset management industry, Foreside is uniquely positioned to help clients navigate the changing financial and regulatory landscape,” said Spencer Hoffman, a Partner at Lovell Minnick.  “We look forward to working closely with Rich, Dave and the rest of Foreside’s strong management team as they execute their strategy to grow the business and to further broaden the scope of services they provide.”

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017, subject to customary regulatory reviews and approvals.  Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP served as legal counsel to Lovell Minnick Partners.