Fintech giant SS&C expects to bolster Battea’s reach through cross-selling opportunities
Jan. 7, 2025 /Middle Market Growth/ /Anastasia Donde/ — When SS&C acquired securities class action services company Battea in September, the fintech behemoth saw an opportunity to expand the business’s reach among its financial services clients and beyond. Battea, which is headquartered in Stamford, CT, is bringing over 100 employees and the company’s leadership under SS&C’s umbrella.
The company files and processes securities settlement claims in connection with antitrust and securities litigation lawsuits. Its clients include banks, hedge funds, asset managers and buy-side investors. “Battea is optimally positioned to help clients navigate the increasingly complex process of obtaining trustworthy information about litigation settlements that impacts their investments and businesses,” a press release from SS&C said. The business, which also has an office in Copenhagen, is coming into the fold of SS&C’s fund administration business GlobeOp.
The purchase price on the deal was $670 million in debt and cash, of which $650 million was through a Term Loan A privately placed with a direct lender.
“Public companies get a lot of securities class action lawsuits. Battea’s expertise is working with their clients to file with the courts and maximizing recoveries,” explains Bill Stone, CEO of SS&C in an interview with Middle Market Growth. “Battea has 900 clients. We have 22,000. We can give them more leads,” he adds.
SS&C became familiar with Battea around five years ago through Battea’s relationship with Eze Software, SS&C’s investment management offering.
Stone says that while private equity is competitive and has a lot of dry powder, strategics like SS&C can win when there is a strong case for synergies. “In general, if it’s something we want, we can outbid them because we have synergies,” he says, adding that SS&C can take over the back office, admin, finance and HR functions of the businesses it acquires.