IMS Announces Investment from Sovereign Capital

The IMS Group (“IMS”), a leading provider of regulatory compliance consulting and integrated business support to the wholesale asset management and securities industry in the United Kingdom, today announces that it is accelerating its planned growth via a majority investment from Sovereign Capital, the UK’s Buy and Build specialist.

The regulatory challenges facing investment firms are becoming increasingly complex and challenging. Alongside these developments, the cross-border nature of US and European financial services legislation and the close interplay of rules across all business sectors, from trading to operations and finance, demand that compliance advisers offer expertise across a whole host of disciplines. IMS aims to remain at the forefront of providing advice to its clients, and to offer the full range of services and specialist expertise that they may require to address such issues as the European Union’s Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and SEC registration in the US.

Sovereign Capital will provide IMS with the ideal combination of financial backing and business acceleration experience from the Sovereign Capital investment team. This will enable IMS to grow and build on its existing expertise in assisting clients with forthcoming challenges.

IMS has always emphasised rigorous client service standards by having a client-led rather than product-based approach. Its objective now is to significantly build on the talent and industry experience it can offer the market, so maintaining its reputation as a market leader.

The announcement of Sovereign Capital’s investment marks the augmentation of IMS’s management team with the appointment of Michel van Leeuwen as Group CEO and Tony Solway as Chairman. Michel was previously Managing Director, Worldwide Capital Markets, at Microsoft Corporation and has specific experience in investment management, risk management, capital markets and applied technology. Tony was previously CEO at BNP Paribas Securities Services. IMS’s founder, Scott Wilson, will remain a part of the IMS management team as Non-Executive Director.

Michel commented: “There has never been a greater need for pragmatic regulatory advice as the tide of regulation becomes ever more complex. At IMS we are committed to developing our range of services, the geographies in which we operate, while maintaining our position as leading provider of consulting support to investment firms. Sovereign’s investment will help us achieve these goals.”

Scott Wilson commented; “After 14 years building IMS into a multi-disciplinary consulting and business support group, I believe Sovereign is the right partner to take the group into its next stage of growth. We have always distinguished ourselves as a client-led business and as our clients face increasing complex regulatory, administrative and corporate challenges, we identified Sovereign’s sector knowledge and absolute focus on buy and build as the perfect combination to support us as we expand our range of our services.”