The company

Ocorian is a provider of corporate, fund and fiduciary administration services, headquartered in the Channel Islands. The business was founded in 1971 as Bedell Trust and until 2016 was part of Bedell Cristin law firm. Following the acquisition of Estera in July 2019, the combined business operates from 20 key global jurisdictions, including Bermuda, Cayman, Guernsey, Ireland, Jersey, Luxembourg and Mauritius. The businesses have over 1,200 employees globally, serving over 8,000+ clients across the corporate service, fund administration and private client sector. Together, Ocorian and Estera, provide a complete range of services to clients with multi-jurisdictional needs. In particular, Ocorian’s clients benefit from Estera's established North American presence (Bermuda, BVI and Cayman), while Estera’s clients are able to leverage Ocorian's strong links to the Middle East and Africa. In 2021, Ocorian also acquired Nordic Trustee, the leading provider of trustee and agency services for bonds and direct lending in the Nordic region, giving Ocorian access to the fast-growing Nordic bond and direct lending markets.

The Inflexion difference

Inflexion’s successful relevant experience with a business similar to Ocorian, Sanne (LSE: SNN), means we truly understand how to drive growth in this market. Additionally, our international M&A experience makes us best placed to support Ocorian’s international growth plans.

Since the investment, Ocorian has made 11 acquisitions. Each acquisition has diversified Ocorian’s service provision to clients, whilst also extending its geographical presence. We are continuing to work with the company to evaluate further acquisitions.

In my experience, it is a difficult balance for a private equity fund to know how to support a management team and not attempt to manage the business. Inflexion has found the right balance because they understand the businesses they are acquiring but also work intensively on establishing good relationships with management teams. The culture within Inflexion is to support a business to grow, not to manage it to grow.

Frederik van Tuyll, Chair, Ocorian