Affiliate Of Canada's Labatt Family In Advanced Talks To Buy Investment Consultancy

Tom Burroughes

21 January 2014

An affiliate of Canada’s Labatt family is in advanced talks to buy Asset Risk Consultants, or ARC, the firm providing data on areas such as performance of private client portfolios.

The transaction will enable ARC to broaden its activities in Europe and set up operations in the Caribbean and North America, according to a statement from ARC yesterday.

“Subject to regulatory and other approvals, ARC Group will become a subsidiary of the purchaser, with senior ARC employees retaining a significant equity interest,” the statement said. No financial figures were disclosed in the statement about the size of such a transaction.

ARC was founded in 1995 and employs around 50 staff across Guernsey and Jersey.

“This represents an extremely exciting development for ARC, providing a secure capital base to underpin our ambitious expansion plans without compromising our independence, which we know is essential for our clients,” Graham Harrison, co-founder and group managing director of ARC, said.

Arthur Labatt, who co-founded Trimark, the Canadian mutual fund company, said he was pleased at the chance to develop ARC’s services in North America. The Labatt family is most famous for its eponymous brewery business empire.

“Wealthy families on both sides of the Atlantic desperately need the independent advice and practical guidance on their investment affairs that ARC consistently delivers,” he said.