JTC, the global professional services business, said today (19 August) that it is to acquire the Buck UK and European Share Plan Administration and Trustee Businesses from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (Buck Share Plans),subject to various closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

With operations in the UK, Guernsey and Germany, Buck Share Plans provides fully outsourced administration and trustee services to a blue-chip global client base, covering a full range of employee share plans.

The proposed acquisition will complement and enhance JTC's existing Employer Solutions platform, which continues to deliver attractive growth for the Group.

JTC said Buck Share Plans would accelerate the growth of the group's share plan trustee and administration service offering, as well as bring with it an existing book of high-quality, long-standing blue-chip clients, and an experienced, client focused and committed team of 16 professionals based in the UK, Guernsey and Germany.

JTC Employer Solutions, a part of its Institutional Client Services Division, has a heritage spanning more than 25 years as a market leader in retirement and share plan services.

With over 500 corporate clients, JTC Employer Solutions provides a broad range of trustee and administration services to share plans, deferred compensation plans and international retirement and savings plans.

JTC Employer Solutions serves its global client base from offices in Jersey, Guernsey, London and Edinburgh and the businesses to be acquired will be integrated into JTC Employer Solutions' well-developed platform.

Nigel Le Quesne (pictured), CEO of JTC, said: "This acquisition is exciting for us as share plan services are closely aligned with our own shared ownership philosophy, which has been at the heart of JTC's culture since 1998.

"We believe that our passion for shared ownership, combined with the 25-year track record of our Employer Solutions business, continues to cement our position as a market leader. The JTC Employer Solutions business continues to grow strongly, and we are pleased to be able to further expand our employee share plan offering."

David Piltz, CEO of Gallagher's Benefits & HR Consulting Division in the UK said: "JTC's values define who they are as an organisation, with service excellence at the heart of everything they do. From a Gallagher perspective, cultural fit was such an important factor in our decision to undertake this deal with JTC.

"It was crucial to us that our people and our clients would be moving to an organisation which shared Gallagher's values and focus on both exceptional client service and a collaborative, supportive and inclusive working environment."