Electra Partners’ Elian appoints John Connolly as Group Chairman

POSTED 26 November 2014

Elian today announced that John Connolly has been appointed Group Chairman of Elian with immediate effect.

John Connolly has a wealth of experience in professional services as a result of a long and distinguished career spanning 44 years in the industry including as Global Chairman and Global Managing Partner of Deloitte. He is also currently Chairman of FTSE 100 companies G4S plc and AMEC Foster Wheeler plc.

In addition, John is also a trustee of Great Ormond Street Hospital charity, a member of the Board of Governors of the London Business School and sits on the President's Committee of the Confederation of British Industries.

Elian provides trust, fund and company administration services to corporates, private clients and investment funds. The company employs 500 people across 10 offices and has delivered 15 years of back-to-back growth since its launch as Ogier Fiduciary Services in 1999. In June 2014, Electra Partners acquired the business for £180 million with Electra Private Equity PLC investing £81 million of equity.

Chris Hanna, Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said:

"We are delighted that John has joined Elian as Group Chairman. He brings with him a wealth of experience of growing financial services businesses through rigorous operational focus and acquisition. His international outlook will be invaluable to Elian as it seeks to expand."

John Connolly, Group Chairman of Elian, said:

"Elian is incredibly well positioned for rapid growth, as a result of the company's recent management buyout of Ogier Fiduciary Services and the subsequent launch of their new brand. I am joining at a very exciting time and look forward to working with the Board and the Elian executive team, helping shape and implement the strategic plan."

Paul Willing, CEO of Elian said:

"John's professional services experience is second-to-none and his skills and knowledge will be a major boost to Elian. With our ambitious growth strategy, we are committed to building a strong global business, consolidating our presence in existing markets and expanding into new markets. The fact that John will be investing personally in the business is a sign of his commitment and confidence in our strategy, and I look forward to working with him as we continue to build on our impressive track record of growth and our reputation for providing the highest levels of client service in our industry."

This is the second high profile appointment made in an Electra Partners portfolio company during November, following the announcement that former Whitbread plc CEO, Alan Parker has been appointed Non-executive Chairman of Park Resorts.

Electra Partners refers to Electra Partners LLP acting on behalf of its client Electra Private Equity PLC.

Ends

 

For further information please contact:

Andrew Honnor and Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications
+44 (0)20 7952 2000
Andrew Kenny and Nicholas Board, Electra Partners
+44 (0)20 7306 3902

 

Note to Editors:

About Electra Partners LLP

Electra Partners is an independent private equity fund manager with over 25 years' experience in the mid-market buyout sector. During the last 25 years it has invested in excess of £4.1 billion in over 200 deals. As at 31 March 2014, the firm had funds under management of over £1.5 billion including capital available for investment of circa £300 million.

Electra Partners' flexible investment strategy allows it to invest broadly across the private equity market with a particular focus on Buyouts and Co-investments, Secondaries and Debt. In addition to this, its long-term capital base means it is not constrained by expiring investment periods or exit pressure driven by fund raising cycles and is therefore able to realise investments only when returns are maximised for its investors.

The firm's major client is Electra Private Equity PLC ("Electra"), a private equity investment trust which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1976. Electra's long-term investment performance has been consistently superior to private equity and other benchmarks. Over the ten years to 31 March 2014, Electra has seen diluted NAV per share growth of 260% (equivalent to a ten-year annualised return on equity of 14%) compared to a 129% increase in the FTSE All-Share.

For further information please visit www.electrapartners.com.

Electra Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

About Elian

Elian is a world renowned independent professional services firm that provides leading international trust, fund and company administration services and has long standing relationships with large multi-national corporations, high net worth Individuals, wealthy families and investment funds. The Elian management team have grown the business every year for each of the past 13 years and have a robust approach to risk to safeguard both the firm's reputation and the quality of the client base.

Employing over 500 highly qualified professionals across a network of ten international offices, covering all time zones and key financial centres, Elian is able to handle large, demanding and complex engagements, whilst delivering the highest levels of client service based on industry leading expertise.

Elian's network of offices comprises Bahrain, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dublin, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, London, Luxembourg and Tokyo.

For further information please visit www.elian.com