Computershare to Buy European Public Equity Employee Share Plan Business From Shareworks by Morgan Stanley

Computershare Limited (ASX: CPU) has announced that it has agreed to acquire the European public equity share plan business of Solium Capital UK (which trades as Shareworks by Morgan Stanley).

Solium Capital UK provides employee share plans to around 120 publicly listed companies in the UK and Continental Europe and employs around 100 staff, managing plans with approximately 365,000 participants and $20bn in assets under administration.

Morgan Stanley acquired the European operations of Solium as part of the Solium Capital Inc 2019 acquisition.

Francis Catterall, CEO of Computershare Employee Share Plans, said: “The clients and team from Solium Capital UK are a natural fit for Computershare and will help us further enhance our ability to provide market-leading share plans to clients in the UK and Europe.

“Computershare has invested heavily in our employee share plans business in recent years, including upgrading clients to our EquatePlus platform and ensuring we continue to have the most robust regulatory frameworks.

“As such we are best placed to provide continuity of services through our experienced team, leading technology systems and ability to help clients meet the growing complexity of UK and European regulation.

“The acquisition is a key development in our strategy of focusing on employee share plans as a key pillar of Computershare and this latest investment further demonstrates our commitment to the employee share plan industry.”

Computershare said it expects all relevant employees to transfer as part of the acquisition, which is expected to complete in Q4 of this calendar year, subject to regulatory notifications and other customary closing conditions.

The parties will work collaboratively to ensure the smooth transition of the business and staff.

As part of the transaction Morgan Stanley will continue to offer its wealth management and financial education services to transferring clients’ US participants should they seek financial advice and guidance.

Notes

1. For high resolution images of spokespeople, visit http://cpu.vg/spokespeople.

About Computershare Limited (CPU)

Computershare (ASX: CPU) is a global market leader in transfer agency and share registration, employee equity plans, mortgage servicing, proxy solicitation and stakeholder communications. We also specialise in corporate trust and a range of other diversified financial and governance services.

Founded in 1978, Computershare is renowned for its expertise in high integrity data management, high volume transaction processing and reconciliations, payments and stakeholder engagement. Many of the world’s leading organisations use us to streamline and maximise the value of relationships with their investors, employees, creditors and customers.

Computershare is represented in all major financial markets and has over 14,000 employees worldwide.

For more information, visit www.computershare.com

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