MML Capital ("MML"), a specialist provider of partnership capital, has partnered with Mourant, the international professional services group, through a minority equity investment to accelerate the next phase of Mourant's growth.
The investment will support Mourant's continued focus on delivering exceptional client outcomes, including further investment in technology – particularly in AI-enabled systems and data infrastructure – and in people, through enhanced career pathways and the development of next-generation talent. It will also support Mourant’s measured geographic expansion across the world's leading International Finance Centres, including through carefully selected M&A opportunities, strategic law firm partnerships and lateral hires.
Mourant provides integrated legal, corporate, entity management and fund administration services to many of the world's leading private capital firms, banks, institutional investors and corporations. The Group has a headcount of around 1,000 people across nine International Finance Centres.
The existing owner-managers are co-investing alongside MML to support future long-term growth, building balance sheet firepower in Mourant Group Limited, the Group holding company added last year. Specific terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.
Raising capital for the combined group doubles down on Mourant's long-held belief that clients are best served by the multi-service model, which sees a client's needs met across multiple locations by multi-disciplinary teams of lawyers, governance experts, accountants, regulatory and tax compliance professionals.
Robert Devonshire, Partner, MML, commented:
"MML is focused on true partnership investments, backing exceptional teams in sector leaders with distinctive models and clear paths to growth. We are strongly of the belief that Mourant is the most compelling platform in its market. The combination of legal, governance and consulting services under one umbrella, built on a culture that consistently attracts and retains exceptional people, is rare and genuinely durable. We are backing a leadership team that we have come to know well over an extended period of time, investing to support the long-term growth of Mourant and realise the ambitious plans of its existing and next-generation shareholders. As specialist minority investors with a long track record in the professional services space, we are really excited about the combination and what we can achieve together."
Jonathan Rigby, Mourant CEO, commented:
"We have built something genuinely distinctive – an enduring multi-disciplinary professional services group that serves the world's most sophisticated institutional clients across legal, governance and consulting, all under one umbrella. This investment does not change what we are building. It changes the pace at which we can build it. Bringing deep sector experience, MML shares our high conviction in the integrated services platform, in the opportunity ahead of us, and in the team we have assembled. Our clients can expect the same Mourant they know, for the long term, with greater capability and momentum behind it."
Mourant Group Limited will continue to wholly own the governance and consulting businesses, as well as Mourant's operational infrastructure and brand, whilst continuing to supply managed services to the separate law firm entities.
Control of the Group, and its leadership, will remain with Mourant's existing owners. Control and ownership of the law firm entities will remain with the relevant locally qualified partners. Where required, regulatory notifications and approvals are being progressed with the relevant authorities in each jurisdiction in which the Group operates.
The MML transaction team comprised Robert Devonshire, Will Stewart, Chester Holliday and Rosslyn Hendy.
MML was advised by Pinsent Masons, Oliver Wyman, Konsert Strategy & IP, PwC and Baird.
Mourant was advised by Rothschild & Co, Dejonghe & Morley, Addleshaw Goddard, and PwC.
Mourant is an international professional services firm with over 60 years' experience in the financial services sector. The business advises on the laws of the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Jersey and Luxembourg and provides specialist entity management, governance, regulatory and consulting services.
Mourant is an international and globally integrated firm with offices in a number of the world's leading international finance centres, including London, Singapore and Hong Kong. Its business is intrinsically linked to the global economy and the capital flows that support it.
Its teams serve the needs of its clients in all major time zones, facilitating responsible cross-border finance and investment, the pooling and protection of capital and the resolution of disputes.