Epiris Completes Acquisition of WBS

WHY THIS MATTERS

The completion of Epiris Fund III’s acquisition of WBS (formerly Winterflood Business Services), announced on June 1, 2026, represents a massive carve-out transaction within the UK wealth management architecture. WBS is a quiet structural pillar of the UK retail investment market; its proprietary EOS technology platform operates the high-velocity execution, asset registry, and multi-asset custody pipelines for some of the nation’s largest investment platforms, including Vanguard, Fidelity, and Transact.

The mechanics behind this divestment are part of a broader, multi-layered corporate shuffle. In December 2025, diversified global financial services giant Marex Group plc completed a blockbuster acquisition of the legendary UK market maker Winterflood Securities from Close Brothers Group. However, because asset custody and retail B2B platform technology sit entirely outside Marex’s core clearing and institutional liquidity services, the group structured an immediate conditional carve-out to sell WBS to mid-market private equity specialist Epiris. For Marex, the immediate cash injection from this divestment completely offsets the premium paid for the primary Winterflood market-making franchise, handing them a net gain on the overall transaction. For WBS, the deal marks its permanent decoupling from an institutional market-making desk, liberating it to operate as a pure-play, standalone wealth-tech utility.

WBS, a leading provider of trading, custody and technology solutions to the UK investment industry, today announces that Epiris Fund III, advised by Epiris LLP (“Epiris”), has completed its acquisition of WBS from Marex Group plc (“Marex”). Financial terms are not being disclosed.

The completion of the transaction marks the beginning of a new chapter for WBS, which supported by Epiris’ investment will be well positioned to build on its strong foundations and continue delivering the service, innovation, and partnership that clients value and trust.

Founded in 2010, WBS has grown to become a market leading UK provider of dealing, custody and technology solutions for UK investment firms. Its proprietary EOS technology platform delivers solutions trusted by many of the UK’s leading wealth and retail investment platforms, including Fidelity, Transact and Vanguard.

The new Board of WBS will be chaired by former CEO of Evelyn Partners, Chris Woodhouse, with Andrew Baddeley, former CFO at Evelyn appointed as Non-Executive Director and Chair of Risk & Audit Committee.   Both individuals have proven leadership and business growth expertise and will help support delivery of WBS’ strategic goals.

WBS will continue to be led by Alex Kerry as CEO, supported by its existing management team.

Alex Kerry, CEO of WBS, said:

“We’re delighted to embark on this new chapter for WBS and our clients. Throughout our history, our priority has always been to support our clients in delivering good customer outcomes and to help facilitate growth and long-term success. Our commitment to this remains unchanged. We’re particularly excited that as a stand-alone company, we’ll be able to really accelerate our growth, backed by investment from a partner who understands the business and its objectives. This will enable us to continue delivering market leading solutions, innovation and partnership our clients value and trust”

Chris Woodhouse, Board Chairman at WBS, said:

“I’m thrilled to being joining WBS at this significant milestone in their story.  Alex and the team have built a strong market position, underpinned by talented people, a clear strategic focus, and a culture of delivering exceptional outcomes for our clients. With significant momentum behind it, and strong backing from its partners, WBS is well positioned to continue its growth trajectory and realise the substantial opportunities ahead. I look forward to working closely with the Alex, the Board and wider leadership team to support the next chapter of growth, innovation, and long-term value creation”

FF NEWS TAKE

Epiris is pulling off a text-book private equity play by exploiting the massive structural outsourcing tailwinds sweeping across the European wealth management sector. Modern retail investment platforms are facing an aggressive margin squeeze driven by heightened regulatory compliance, legacy database debt, and a structural market migration away from high-fee mutual funds toward low-cost Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) and fractional shares. Building and maintaining an in-house custody engine and a real-time exchange-traded dealing ledger is becoming cost-prohibitive for all but the largest institutional players.

By establishing WBS as a fully independent company under continuing CEO Alex Kerry, Epiris is positioning the business to capture a dominant share of this multi-trillion-pound outsourced infrastructure market. To supercharge this standalone growth chapter, Epiris has installed an elite, tier-1 corporate governance board. The new Board Chairman is Chris Woodhouse, the highly regarded former CEO of wealth giant Evelyn Partners, who is joined by former Evelyn CFO Andrew Baddeley as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk & Audit Committee. This heavy-hitting leadership combination brings unparalleled institutional experience in scaling multi-asset platforms and executing aggressive roll-up strategies. Backed by Epiris Fund III’s deep capital reserves, the new board’s roadmap will focus on transforming the EOS infrastructure into a hyper-scalable, white-labeled engine—enabling a new generation of fintech neo-brokers and legacy private banks to rapidly deploy sophisticated wealth products with zero backend friction.