Suntera Global sold to US investor, exit for Palatine
Palatine has successfully exited its investment in Suntera Global, an Isle of Man founded business, which provides corporate and private wealth services, generating a 2.7x return for investors.
US-based Valeas Capital Partners has bought Suntera, now based in Jersey, in a secondary buyout.
Since investing in Suntera in June 2019, Palatine has enjoyed a strong partnership with Suntera’s management team led by Chief Executive David Hudson, growing revenue to in excess of £70m, delivering strong organic growth, more than doubling the workforce to over 500 alongside significant geographic expansion and completing seven strategic acquisitions.
While the deal terms were not disclosed, TheBusinessDesk.com understands that the total transaction value was $500million (£375m) inclusive of the enterprise value, committed debt and equity to support future M&A and other growth initiatives.
The deal is subject to regulatory approval.
Last month, (April 2025) Suntera, which describes itself as an “international provider of bespoke fund administration” completed a multi-million pound refinance of its debt facilities with global investment firm Carlyle’s global credit division.
Acquisitions included Carey Commercial, Nedgroup Trust and Helm Trust Company in the Channel Islands and New Jersey-based fund administration business Socium Fund Services, which provided Suntera its first foothold in the US.
In addition to M&A activity, Suntera has added new service offerings and opened new offices and employs 550 people in the Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Jersey, Luxembourg, United Kingdom and the United States.
The company’s headquarters have also been relocated to Jersey, but with a strong administrative base remaining in the Isle of Man, where the business was founded.
Tom Wildig, Investment Director at Palatine, said: “Over the course of the investment period we have worked incredibly well with David and the other members of his exceptional leadership team.
“Seven acquisitions have been identified, negotiated and completed adding geographical scale to the business in line with our original strategy at investment.
“From being a very good business, primarily focused on private clients serviced from the Isle of Man, Suntera is now a great business – a global player offering an extensive range of bespoke services to private clients, corporates and funds.
“Private equity investment works best when there is a shared vision and ambition and we would never have achieved what we have without such a collaborative and close relationship with David and the team. We wish them all the best for the future as they move to the next phase of their growth journey alongside Valeas.”
David Hudson, CEO at Suntera said: “From the outset Palatine proved to be an outstanding investment partner, getting to know our business and buying-in to our vision and the opportunity to scale Suntera into a leading independent player in the market place.
“The support we’ve had, not only financial, has allowed us to invest in our people, systems and culture and enabled us to unleash our potential. We look forward to the future with confidence and further ambition.”
Jefferies acted as Sole Financial Adviser to Palatine and Suntera on the company’s sale to Valeas and refinancing with Carlyle. Gateley provided Suntera with legal advice on the sale and King & Spalding provided legal advice on the refinancing with Carlyle. KPMG provided financial due diligence with Oliver Wyman providing commercial due diligence and Waystone providing regulatory diligence. The management team of Suntera were advised by Wyvern and law firm Mischon de Reya.
Separately, Palatine has this week acquired a majority stake in Atombit Group, a fast-growth pan-European leader in Experience Intelligence spanning customer and employee experience, data analytics and AI. Alongside the investment, London-based Atombit has made three strategic acquisitions to accelerate its growth.
