As a result of the definitive agreement, Kinetic Partners will create a dedicated financial regulatory and compliance consulting practice within Duff & Phelps.

To avoid conflicts of interest with clients, Kinetic Partners Audit LLP and Kinetic Partners Cayman LLP will remain as separate organizations and will not form part of the Duff & Phelps acquisition.

Just as the rising tide of regulatory and compliance burdens have been cited as a reason for driving wealth management sector consolidation, the drive for more market scale and expertise seems to have been a factor in this deal.

The new financial regulatory and compliance practice will be led by Kinetic Partners’ chief executive and founding partner, Julian Korek.

“Kinetic Partners will expand Duff & Phelps’ footprint in New York, London, Dublin and Hong Kong, and introduce new offices in Luxembourg, the Channel Islands, the Cayman Islands and Singapore. The transaction is expected to close in early 2015, pending European regulatory review,” a statement from Duff & Phelps said.

“This represents an ideal complement to our suite of valuation services, especially in the alternative asset management sector, where together we serve many of the world’s leading hedge funds and private equity firms,” said Noah Gottdiener, CEO at Duff & Phelps.