Transactions
July 2015
has sold the assets of
to
New York, NY
Background
CNO Financial Group (CNO) - formerly known as Conseco - is a publicly traded insurance company and investment firm based in Carmel, Indiana. CNO’s wholly owned subsidiary 40/86 Advisors manages their $24 Billion investment portfolio. In 2011, 40/86 took over a portfolio of investments made by Bermuda’s Investor Guarantee. The portfolio included a controlling interest in Counterparty Link (“CPL”), a London-based firm with customers in the UK, USA, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden and a global user base. The Company provided global legal entity and KYC-relevant compliance data, collected and maintained directly from primary sources, to financial institutions globally. It offered access to a database with detailed identification information on more than 360,000 legal entities from more than 200 Jurisdictions. Nearly $70 million had been invested in CPL, including about $16 million invested by 40/86 over 4 years to rebuild the Company’s software platform. In 2015 CNO approached M&A with a request that we help them sell the company.
After a sale process managed by M&A that attracted potential buyers from three countries, 40/86 agreed to sell the assets of CPL to DTCC (The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation). With this acquisition, DTCC materially strengthened its legal entity and KYC-compliance service. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Marlin & Associates acted as strategic and financial advisor to CNO Financial and 40/86. Marlin & Associates aided in the creation of marketing materials to highlight the Company’s leading position in serving Tier 1 financial institutions and its potential to serve a critical role in the helping customers Know their Customers, comply with government regulations, and reduce risk. M&A worked with 40/86 and Counterparty Link’s management to identify potential buyers, negotiate terms, determine the best structure under which to complete a transaction and bring this complex transaction to closure.