Seward & Kissel Represents Catalyst Global Financial Group in Connection with its Growth Investment from Aquiline

January 9, 2025

Seward & Kissel’s Business Transactions Group Focusing on the Middle Market

On January 6, 2025, Catalyst Global Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd. an innovative financial services and technology firm, received a significant growth investment from Aquiline, a private investment specialist in financial services and technology. Seward & Kissel is pleased to have represented Catalyst Global Financial Group in connection with this middle market investment transaction.

Catalyst Global Financial Group is a financial services firm that utilizes the latest technology, extensive automation and a jurisdictional focus to deliver accurate, highly efficient and institutional scalable products. Aquiline is a private investment specialist that partners with stakeholders across financial services and adjacent markets with the aim to provide capital and support for business growth within these sectors.

Seward & Kissel LLP  is a leading New York law firm, originally established in 1890, offering legal advice emphasizing business, financial and commercial law and related litigation.

The firm’s Business Transactions Group handles middle-market M&A, private equity, venture capital and joint venture transactions involving a wide variety of industries. The firm is ranked as Highly Regarded for Corporate/M&A by Chambers USA and is recommended by The Legal 500 in the middle-market M&A category, stating that Seward & Kissel “has considerable expertise in M&A;…The team regularly acts for private equity firms, international businesses and financial services companies in a huge variety of domestic and cross-border corporate and financing transactions.”

The company’s announcement describing this transaction is reproduced below for your information.

Catalyst to accelerate growth and innovation strategy with investment from Aquiline

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands and NEW YORK, Jan. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Catalyst Global Financial Group (Cayman) Ltd. (“Catalyst” or the “firm”), an innovative international financial services and technology firm, announces a significant growth investment from Aquiline, a private investment specialist with $11.3 billion of assets under management that invests across financial services and technology.

Catalyst is a financial services firm, offering fund administration, corporate services and client accounting services with an innovative approach that is leveraging state-of-the-art technology to disrupt the financial services landscape and elevate the client experience. Catalyst’s solutions employ sophisticated robotic process automation, artificial intelligence and client-facing applications to streamline operations, increase efficiency and deliver robust and dynamic reporting solutions for clients with a variety of onshore and offshore financial structures. By combining this technological mindset with a high-degree of client relationship management, Catalyst has positioned itself as a new breed of service provider – a technologically advanced and jurisdictionally focused partner.

Catalyst was founded in 2021 by a small team that shared a common vision of what “good” looks like in the modern age. Catalyst was also driven by a shared passion for working in a healthy, people-first culture. With a combined 50 years of experience working for top-tier financial services institutions, the team shared a commitment to revolutionizing the industry by thinking outside the box and adopting a non-conventional approach to the way things are done. At present, the firm has grown to support a portfolio of more than 700 entities registered in the U.S., the Cayman Islands and Bahamas, with a combined AUA of over $13BN and annual revenues exceeding $14MM.

Aquiline’s investment (which is subject to CIMA approval) will act as a catalyst for growth as the firm plans to deliver the next generation of its technological capabilities to better service customer demands and adapt to the market environment. The capital injection will further allow the firm to scale its business, invest in its people and expand its market reach.

Benji Reid, Co-Founder and Co-Managing partner of Catalyst said: “Since Catalyst’s inception, we have always prided ourselves on being a boutique firm, founded by investors who truly understood our vision to always look to innovate and in doing so, to question the status quo. The last four years have been incredible for us as an organization, and we vastly exceeded all our growth targets. What I personally underestimated were the capital requirements and stresses that accompany a firm going through hyper growth and the importance of having growth capital to keep yourselves ahead of the curve. Recognizing this challenge, a year ago, we set about searching for a new (capital) partner to assist us in continuing our vision. After a lot of ‘blind dates’ we were introduced to the team at Aquiline. The experience of working with them has been nothing short of incredible. Their way of working coupled with their view on growth aligns perfectly with ours and I couldn’t be prouder and more excited about the investment in Catalyst. Having a true Capital partner that recognized the importance of Catalyst retaining its independence, while also having the ability to invest in its people and tech is very refreshing. Aquiline understands this and they are committed to enabling our team to do what it does best.”

Tim Gravely, Partner and Head of Credit at Aquiline said: “We are thrilled to partner with Catalyst as they continue to redefine financial services through technology and client-centric innovation. Their dedication to leveraging advanced automation and AI while maintaining exceptional client service sets them apart in the industry. We look forward to supporting their next phase of expansion and helping them achieve even greater success in the market.”

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority.