Affirma Capital complete MBO of Standard Chartered’s Private Equity business

Taylor Wessing has advised Affirma Capital, a newly formed, independent private equity firm owned and managed by the former senior leadership of Standard Chartered Private Equity ("SCPE"), on its MBO of Standard Chartered Bank's ("SCB") private equity investment business. As part of the transaction, Affirma Capital will manage new funds backed by ICG Strategic Equity, part of the Intermediate Capital Group Plc ("ICG").

At closing, Affirma Capital holds assets under management of $3.6 billion, spread across Southeast Asia, India, China, South Korea, the Middle East and Africa. Those assets include a portfolio acquired by the ICG funds from SCB, as well as portfolios owned by third-party investors in SCPE’s Marina and Korea Funds. Affirma Capital will also have a pool of $400m in capital for new investments.

The team was led by partner Emma Danks and senior partner Dominic FitzPatrick (Private Equity) with support from senior counsel Matt Harrison (Corporate Technology), senior associate Suzy Penney (Private Equity) and associate Alexander Walker (Private Equity). The complexity of this buyout also required international advice across Taylor Wessing's offices in Singapore, Dubai, China, Hong Kong, Korea, South Africa, India, Jersey, Cayman and the United States.

Commenting on the transaction, Partner and Head of Private Equity Emma Danks said: "This was a fantastic transaction for Taylor Wessing to have been involved with and we were again able to demonstrate our ability to act on and coordinate a multi-faceted cross-border private equity transaction. We have very much enjoyed working with the Affirma Capital team and congratulate them on completion of their spin-out."

Senior Partner Dominic FitzPatrick continued: "We were delighted to support the management team with this complex transaction. This was a real team effort requiring advice from many practice areas and offices. We wish Affirma Capital every success."

Nainesh Jaisingh, CEO of Affirma Capital said: “Emma, Dominic and the team at Taylor Wessing were the right partners to help us navigate a highly complex, multiparty transaction dynamic - with many twists and turns along the way. The advice was technically astute and commercially aware, enabling the right outcome for the team.”