Clearlake Capital and Motive Partners Agree to Acquire BETA+ from London Stock Exchange Group

Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (“Clearlake”) and Motive Partners (“Motive” and collectively, the “Sponsors”), today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the BETA+ assets from London Stock Exchange Group (“LSEG”), which encompasses the assets of BETA (securities processing, custody, clearing, and asset servicing technology), Maxit (cost and tax basis reporting software), and Digital Investor (front-end client solutions), collectively referred to as “BETA+”.

Additionally, Clearlake and Motive Partners have simultaneously formed a long-term strategic partnership with LSEG, in which LSEG will provide content, data, and tools to BETA+ and the Sponsors’ other portfolio companies.

The wealth management industry continues to demonstrate opportunities, bolstered by tailwinds across the spectrum including a significant movement in technology modernization, industry consolidation, increases in retail trading, and democratization of the capital markets. Over recent years, the space has exhibited growth across various avenues, compounded by investment from new and established players. This has presented opportunities for well-placed investors and innovators to digitize legacy technology, expand product offerings to address unmet demand, and create efficiencies along the value chain.

Clearlake and Motive’s thesis in wealth management technology focuses on providing the Wealth Management industry with frictionless digital experiences, catalyzing the democratization of wealth solutions, and delivering hyper-personalized solutions to end clients. By acquiring the BETA+ assets from LSEG and creating a standalone platform, Clearlake and Motive intend to execute on a buy and build strategy, supported by Clearlake’s proprietary O.P.S.® framework and Motive’s value creation plan developed by Motive Create and the Industry Partner team. This will include building critical platform infrastructure on the back-end of the Wealth workflow, with a plan to utilize proprietary expertise and know-how to augment the core BETA+ platform technology, enhance functionality for the existing blue-chip client set, enter new and high-growth markets, and cultivate partnerships within the combined Wealth ecosystems of the Sponsors. Clearlake and Motive continue to execute on a similar thesis with their existing portfolio company, InvestCloud. The Sponsors are also focused on the long-term strategic partnership between BETA+, the Sponsors’ other portfolio companies and LSEG, to offer new products and greater operational efficiencies to clients across these various platforms.

“BETA+ has established a strong position in the self-clearing technology space and broader wealth management ecosystem with a reputation for meeting the unique needs of global financial institutions and their clients,” said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, and James Pade, Partner of Clearlake. “We look forward to partnering with Motive Partners, the BETA+ team, and LSEG as the company continues to provide best-in-class solutions to its blue-chip customer base.”

“BETA+, together with our other portfolio companies, will be focused on creating frictionless, digital-first experiences for clients, advisors, and home office personnel with streamlined processes, reduced costs, and increased retention and satisfaction, ultimately making it easier for Wealth clients to obtain solutions which address their financial needs. We’re looking forward to partnering with Clearlake once again to continue our transformation of the wealth management sector at a critical time for the industry,“ said Stephen C. Daffron, Co-Founder and Industry Partner of Motive Partners.

The Sponsors were advised by Wells Fargo as exclusive financial advisor, Sidley Austin LLP as legal counsel, Deloitte as accounting, tax, carveout and human resources counsel, BCG as commercial advisor, and Motive Create for technical due diligence. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP also acted as legal counsel for Motive Partners. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.