Equiom acquires Andium

Isle of Man head-quartered Equiom Group has acquired Jersey-based Andium Trust Company for an undisclosed sum.

Although Equiom is materially larger than Andium, there are a number of similarities between the businesses.

Equiom was established over 30 years ago in the Isle of Man as Ernst & Young's trust company arm, and subsequently formed part of the Anglo Irish Bank Group until the business was acquired by the management team in an MBO in 2006, backed by private equity house Isis.

Andium has been in the trust business for over 30 years and was previously known as ASL Management Services. In 2007 and it was taken over by its management team in an MBO and has grown steadily since then.

Stewart Walker, one of the principals at Andium, was formerly a partner with Ernst & Young Jersey, and the management teams of the two businesses believe that they have a similar professional culture and ethos.  

Stewart Walker, Anton Swemmer and Simon Voisin, the senior management team at Andium, will all be joining Equiom and taking up senior positions there.

Equiom, has been looking to establish a fiduciary presence in Jersey for some time and the acquisition of Andium enables it to do that with a reasonable immediate scale.

The deal is the latest in a number of consolidation plays amongst smaller and mid-sized trust companies, many of whom are following a strategy of multi-jurisdictional growth.