US investment firms snap up BETA+ for $1.1bn from London Stock Exchange Group

Clearlake Capital and specialist tech investor Motive Partners have come together to snap up data and process firm BETA+ from the London Stock Exchange Group today for a value of $1.1bn.

BETA+, which provides back-office processing solutions to the wealth management industry, had revenues of $300m last year and has felt the lift of firms rushing to digitise legacy technology in the industry.

Clearlake and Motive said they had looked to make a move on the firm as the industry was increasingly “bolstered by tailwinds” including the modernisation of technologies, industry consolidation and a surge in the retail trading space.

BETA+ would also allow them to tap into a major financial customer base, Clearlake bosses said.

“BETA+ has established a strong position in the self-clearing technology space and broader wealth management ecosystem with a reputation for meeting the unique needs of global financial institutions and their clients,” said Behdad Eghbali, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Clearlake. 

“We look forward to partnering with Motive Partners, the BETA+ team, and LSEG as the company continues to provide best-in-class solutions to its blue-chip customer base.”

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has also inked a long-term strategic partnership with the two new owners of BETA+, in which the group will provide content, data and tools to BETA+ and the other firms with Clearlake and Motive’s investment portfolios.

Andrea Remyn Stone, LSEG’s head of data and analytics said the partnership would provide a springboard for growth in the firm.

“The partnership with BETA+ under its new owners offers a platform for further revenue growth in content and data while ensuring continuity for customers under a new owner focused on this segment of the market,” she said.

The deal follows a push from LSEG into the private markets space last week as it snapped up fintech firm Floww, as it looks to tempt in private firms raising capital.

LSEG said it work with Floww to “to help launch their private primary capital raising facility, while exploring liquidity and secondary market options, including through the use of new technologies.”

The exchange said its ambition was to become the first exchange “genuinely indifferent” as to whether firms are public or private.