Carlyle explores £600m sale of UK fintech leader Calastone

Carlyle, the US private equity giant managing $447bn in assets, is considering selling Calastone, a UK-based funds network and data company.

The potential sale, managed by Barclays, could value Calastone at over £600m, or more than 20 times its EBITDA, based on comparable fintech transactions.

Calastone leverages blockchain technology to simplify fund trading, settlement, and reporting processes. Serving 4,000 clients in 57 countries, the company processes £270bn in monthly investment transactions. This automation reduces inefficiencies and rising costs for asset and fund managers. Moreover, it solidifies Calastone’s position as a critical player in the fintech ecosystem.

Since Carlyle acquired Calastone in 2020 from Octopus Ventures and Accel, the company has demonstrated strong growth under CEO Julien Hammerson’s leadership. Revenue increased from £60.3m in 2022 to £68.3m in 2023, according to Companies House filings.

Industry observers note that the sale could attract interest from global exchange operators, market infrastructure firms, and private equity investors. In turn, this reflects a broader trend of acquisitions targeting high-value fintech and data companies. Notable transactions in this space include BlackRock’s £2.55bn acquisition of Preqin.

With an auction expected before summer, this potential sale underscores the growing investor appetite for specialised financial technology providers like Calastone, which continue to deliver innovation and efficiency for the asset management industry.

Source: Reuters

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