Wolters Kluwer Acquires Risk Management Firm FRSGlobal

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, a regulatory compliance and risk management business, announced the acquisition of FRSGlobal, a Brussels-based global financial regulatory reporting and risk management business, from The Carlyle Group and growth equity investor Kennet Partners. FRSGlobal's solutions enable international financial institutions to centralize multi-country risk and regulatory reporting, and address major financial regulatory, compliance and risk management requirements globally.

This acquisition will enable Wolters Kluwer Financial Services to offer financial organizations comprehensive compliance and risk solutions that cover operational risk, compliance risk, and financial risk and reporting--meeting the major risk requirements of financial organizations worldwide, according to a release. "The financial crisis, globalization, and increasing regulatory scrutiny have created a complex and challenging environment for financial organizations," said Brian Longe, CEO of Wolters Kluwer Financial & Compliance Services. "Financial organizations are requiring intelligent and comprehensive solutions and services to help them address the complexities of a rapidly evolving regulatory environment. Together, FRSGlobal and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will be able to provide global financial organizations with the most comprehensive compliance and risk management solutions available." FRSGlobal is the only provider to offer customers a unified solution to address the financial risk management and regulatory reporting needs of financial organizations across the world, according to the firm. Steve Husk, CEO of FRSGlobal, and Serge Minne, CFO and COO, FRSGlobal, will join Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and will continue to lead FRSGlobal.

The acquistion creates the world's largest compliance and risk management business focused on financial services, with more than 15,000 banking, insurance and securities customers across the globe. "Joining Wolters Kluwer Financial Services means that our customers will have access to an even broader array of compliance and risk management solutions," said Husk, FRSGlobal's CEO. "With a shared commitment to meeting the evolving needs of the financial services market, FRSGlobal and Wolters Kluwer Financial Services will be able to comprehensively address the needs of financial organizations around the globe." Michael Wand, managing director and co-head of Carlyle's European Technology Partners team (CETP), said: "This achievement with FRSGlobal is a great endorsement of our original investment thesis of transforming a traditional software license business into a value-enhancing subscription-based recurring revenue model, based on strong domain expertise and content orientation. We believe Wolters Kluwer is an excellent partner for the business and wish them every success in taking the business forward."