GLOBAL– Hedge funds service provider The Citco Group Ltd has announced that an investor group has acquired “a controlling interest” in the firm from the Sandoz Family Foundation.

The investment group includes Citco management, the Smeets Family Trust and what a statement termed “friends of the firm”.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed and a spokesman was not available for comment.

However, the statement said the firm would remain independent.

The Sandoz Family Foundation, which the statement said had made a “substantial” equity investment in Citco in 1995, would retain a minority stake in Citco and a seat on its board.

Chief executive officer Christopher Smeets and Citco’s current management team will continue to operate the business, the statement added.

Citco Group, which was founded more than 60 years ago, said that it currently administers more than $250bn (€205.9bn) in assets globally.

Its companies also provide corporate and private client fiduciary services to multinational companies, financial institutions and their professional advisors.

Silverpoint Capital LP led the debt financing for the transaction, while Morgan Stanley acted as financial advisor to the Smeets Family Trust. Goldman Sachs International served as financial advisor to the Sandoz Family Foundation.

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