Acuity Knowledge Partners Acquires PPA Group to Expand Automation Capabilities for Commercial Lenders
July 01 2024 - 3:00AM
Business Wire
Acuity Knowledge Partners (“Acuity”), a leading provider of
high-value research, analytics and business intelligence solutions
to the financial services sector, today announced the acquisition
of PPA Group (“PPA”).
PPA is a leading technology-enabled service provider to
financial institutions in Germany and Switzerland, providing
services focused on bespoke structuring of global financial and ESG
data for commercial lending and ESG analysis.
With offices in Darmstadt, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland, PPA
has over two decades of experience in working with leading European
banks to help them better understand and utilise complex
counterparty data. PPA’s software-enabled services, developed
in-house, and deep domain expertise deliver accurate,
cost-effective and secure results to its growing client base.
“Advanced, accurate and timely data processing to assist
financial institutions engaged in commercial lending is a key
growth area for Acuity. The acquisition of PPA Group is a strategic
investment to support Acuity’s commitment and growing presence in
supporting best practices in commercial lending. I am also
delighted that we will partner with the highly experienced PPA
management team to scale this business and bring its capabilities
to Acuity’s global client base,” said Robert King, Chief
Executive Officer, Acuity Knowledge Partners. “Our combined
platform will provide clients with a market-leading service, and we
look forward to integrating PPA’s innovative use of AI and Machine
Learning into our portfolio of solutions. The acquisition also adds
direct presence in two important and major European financial
markets, Germany, and Switzerland.”
Heimo Saubach, Chief Executive Officer, PPA Group, said,
“We have built a best-in-class data extraction and processing
business serving European lending customers. Becoming part of
Acuity Knowledge Partners will allow us to expand our market share
globally and provide additional value to our existing customer
base. It also means we can combine our advanced understanding of AI
platforms with that of Acuity to create new and market-leading
solutions. Acuity and PPA share the same mission of being a
strategic and trusted partner to our customers and a great place to
work for our employees. We feel very comfortable becoming part of
Acuity and are confident that we can add value to our common
endeavours.”
4GC acted as the exclusive M&A advisor for PPA.
About Acuity Knowledge Partners
Acuity Knowledge Partners (Acuity) is a leading provider of
bespoke research, analytics and technology solutions to the
financial services sector, including asset managers, corporate and
investment banks, private equity and venture capital firms, hedge
funds and consulting firms. Its global network of over 6,000
analysts and industry experts, combined with proprietary
technology, supports more than 600 financial institutions and
consulting companies to operate more efficiently, unlock their
human capital and transform operations. Acuity is headquartered in
London and operates from 10 locations worldwide.
Acuity was established as a separate business from Moody’s
Corporation in 2019, following its acquisition by Equistone
Partners Europe (Equistone). In January 2023, funds advised by
global private equity firm Permira acquired a majority stake in the
business from Equistone, which remains invested as a minority
shareholder.
For more information, visit www.acuitykp.com
About PPA Group
PPA Group is a leading technology partner and service provider
for the digitalization and preparation of corporate data on behalf
of financial service providers. More than 50 commercial banks from
the D-A-CH region have outsourced the process of data preparation
for internal bank decision-making processes to PPA. Around 150
experts at the locations in Darmstadt (D) and Glattbrugg (CH)
process more than 300,000 documents per year. PPA combines the
capabilities of artificial intelligence and trained experts in a
hybrid process approach and delivers individually structured data
in customer-specific processes. Compliance with the regulatory
requirements for outsourcing management for banks (Bundesbank, EBA,
FINMA) is confirmed annually by external audits.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240701687602/en/
Media: Stuti Das Global Head of Communications and PR
Acuity Knowledge Partners stuti.das@acuitykp.com