On Tuesday 4 February 2025, Luxembourg-based investor services group, IQ-EQ, announced the acquisition of AgamaGroup, an independent regulatory compliance firm based in France and Luxembourg.

This transaction gives the global investor services group its first regulatory compliance presence in the region and marks a significant milestone in the firm’s longer-term strategy to establish itself as a regulatory compliance leader in continental Europe as well as the UK, the US and Asia. 

Established in 2013, Agama provides regulatory compliance, internal control and operational support to asset managers and funds across private equity, real estate and other asset classes. The group is made up of four business units, totalling 50+ professionals across offices in Paris and Luxembourg:

• Agama Conseil (France) – provides ongoing support for internal control functions within asset managers;
• Agama Services (France) – assists with formation, authorisation and approvals for new asset managers;
• Agama Advisors (Luxembourg) – provides Responsable du Contrôle (RC), directorship and compliance services for Luxembourg funds;
• BELT Solutions (France) – services the RegTech SaaS solution supporting compliance officers within asset managers.

As well as expanding IQ-EQ’s regulatory compliance offering into continental Europe, the acquisition of Agama builds upon IQ-EQ’s suite of services for fund and asset managers operating in France, including fund administration, outsourced chief financial officer (CFO), valuation, risk management and third-party alternative investment fund manager (AIFM) services.

In Luxembourg, Agama’s business is complementary to IQ-EQ’s existing offering; in particular, its anti-money laundering (AML) / combating the financing of terrorism (CFT), compliance officer (RC) and directorship capabilities.

Commenting on the acquisition, IQ-EQ’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mark Pesco, said: “Continental Europe is ripe with commercial opportunity and represents an important strategic growth region for us. This acquisition not only speaks to that opportunity but cements our position as the leading provider of regulatory compliance services globally, adding to our established expert teams in the UK, the US and Asia.”

Regional CEO for Continental Europe at IQ-EQ, Diana Senanayake, added: “This is an incredibly exciting transaction for us; it adds a strong new string to our regional bow and we see excellent collaboration potential between our teams that will benefit our business and our clients.”

From Tuesday 4 February 2025, Agama will go to market as “Agama IQ-EQ” prior to a full rebrand to IQ-EQ once the businesses have been successfully integrated. This acquisition follows IQ-EQ’s recent acquisitions of ComplianceAsia and Lymon Pte in 2023.

SM