Blackstone Lists Trust Firm After Fed Verdict

Blackstone will on Monday become the latest buyout firm to exploit the US central bank’s decision to delay a hike in interest rates by announcing a £2bn flotation of Intertrust, a global trust administrator.

Sky News understands that Blackstone, which has owned well-known companies in the UK such as Butterkist popcorn and Center Parcs, will announce that it is pursuing an initial public offering of Intertrust in Amsterdam.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Intertrust specialises in advising on a range of financial services for clients, a sector which has attracted growing interest from private equity investors in recent years.

Buyout firms have made a string of investments in the industry even as scrutiny has intensified of the way, for example, multinational corporations plan their corporate structures to minimise their tax bills.

Blackstone has been working on a listing of Intertrust, which it acquired just under three years ago for €675m (£491m), for several months.

In addition to tax-related activities, Intertrust gives advice on a range of other business services to private equity firms, wealthy individuals and companies, and employs 1800 people across 26 countries, including the UK.

Since being bought by Blackstone, it has made a number of acquisitions, including that of ATC Group in 2013.

Like many other companies looking to go public, Intertrust is likely to have been bolstered by the US Federal Reserve’s decision last week to delay a widely anticipated rise in interest rates.

Last Friday, Worldpay, a UK-based payments group, opted to pursue an IPO rather than a sale following the Fed’s decision, paving the way for the biggest share offering in London for four years.

A significant number of other companies are also preparing London listings, including Equiniti, a business services specialist, McCarthy & Stone, the retirement home-builder, and Hastings Direct, which unveiled its plans last week.

People close to Blackstone said that comparable companies to Intertrust listed on other stock exchanges would include Capita, theFTSE-100 support services group.

Deutsche Bank and UBS are understood to be among the investment banks leading the Intertrust listing, while Lazard is advising the company.

Blackstone declined to comment on Sunday.