Apex Group continues US expansion with FTS buy

Global financial services firm Apex Group continues its US expansion with the acquisition of tax services firm FTS, Private Funds CFO has learned.

Apex now offers a full suite of tax services for its clients with the FTS deal.

“FTS complements and expands Apex tax services,” Georges Archibald, head of Americas for Apex, explained ahead of a public announcement of the deal. “For us, this deal is about being able to provide full front-to-back tax services to our clients.”

FTS provides tax planning, tax compliance and tax structuring for private equity and real estate funds. Its services have been integrated into Apex’s US tax services, which includes preparing and filing K-1s and issuing PFIC statements for US investors in offshore funds.

Archibald said Apex wanted to expand its tax offerings and was looking for “the most expert team by reputation and by expertise,” when it found FTS.

The FTS deal allows clients to rely on one service provider, removing the angst from firms having to hire multiple vendors to provide different services.

“With this FTS acquisition, for our clients, the transfer of information from accounting to the tax group is more efficient within one structure. It gives us process efficiency, technology efficiency and people efficiency,” Archibald said. “We’re able to provide services and expertise we weren’t able to before.”

The acquisition expands Apex’s US presence to offices in New York, Greenwich, Boston, Portland and Coral Springs, Florida, and adds 50 employees, bringing the fund administrator’s Americas headcount to more than 600 people.

“FTS is just one of three key acquisitions for us in the Americas in the last year and we will continue with others with the view to providing the best service for clients, listening to clients and having thoughtful dialogues with them about planning,” Archibald said.

In its most recent US move, Apex hired Krishna Prasad as its first head of US last month.

In August last year, Apex acquired GCG, a US provider of finance, accounting and human resources services to technology companies, venture capital and private equity funds.

Apex founder and CEO Peter Hughes said at the time of the GCG acquisition that growth across the Americas was a strategic priority for the firm.

Apex also acquired Brazilian fund administrator BRL Trust Investimentos in July 2021.