Zedra, the global specialist in Corporate and Global Expansion, Active Wealth, Pensions and Incentives, as well as Fund solutions said on 7 November that following receipt of regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (CBCS), it has completed its acquisition of Curaçao and US based Atlas Fund Services, a privately held, fully licensed, and industry-recognized investment fund administrator. 

The deal follows the acquisitions of US based Axelia Partners and Luxembourg based BFCS, respectively corporate and fund service providers.

Founded in 2006, Atlas Fund Services provides long-term, tailored, and reliable alternative investment fund services to US-based investment managers from its offices in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Curaçao. Atlas Fund Services also services clients located in Europe and throughout Latin America from its office in Curaçao. Its client base includes emerging and seasoned funds, spanning across private equity and hedge funds. 

Zedra has an established presence in the fund services industry, with dedicated teams in the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, Channel Islands and Singapore. 

The firm further said the acquisition marks a milestone for the firm as it adds fund services in the US but also enhances its existing focus on the Latin American market through a new office in Curaçao, complementing the firm's available fund services capabilities in the region through its Cayman Islands office. 

The deal follows the acquisition of US based Axelia Partners, a provider of global expansion services with offices in Boston and New York earlier this year, as well as BFCS, previously the fund and corporate services arm of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg. 

Wim Ritz, Zedra Global Head of Funds, said: "This acquisition propels ZEDRA forward in becoming an international leader in the funds services industry. We expect to grow our presence in the US exponentially over the near future, leveraging Atlas' know-how and resources. The prominence of the US market for the funds industry is unrivalled, representing nearly half of the global alternative investment market share. It has always been a core market for us, notably for our global expansion services. We are excited to push ahead into the US funds markets with the Atlas team on our side." 

Maarten Robberts, Atlas Fund Services, Managing Director, said: "We are very excited to join ZEDRA. Since we announced the transaction, the collaboration and discussions with ZEDRA have been very fruitful with no service disruption for our clients. This marriage of our growing and entrepreneurial firms is characterised by our shared expertise and passion to service clients and we look forward to achieving greater efficiency and added value for our clients through smart automation. We believe that becoming ZEDRA is an excellent step forward."