Opera Group has a five-year plan to acquire certain businesses, with the latest being a business that came out of an MBO in 2017.

Accuro, the trust and private office company, has been acquired by Opera, a privately owned business whose majority owner is Pula, the family office of Stephen Lansdown, co-founder of UK-based Hargreaves Lansdown. Sealyham, the family office of Tom Scott, is also an owner of Opera.

“This is a natural next step in the organic growth story of Accuro since our management buy-out in 2017,” Xavier Isaac (main picture), Accuro’s CEO, said in an emailed statement.

“We share a unique and aligned vision with Opera, to build one of the world’s leading private client and funds-focused fiduciary businesses. We believe this strategic evolution will benefit our clients and staff, thanks to Opera’s core of being ‘by families, for families’,” Isaac said. 

Accuro is owned by management and staff; its owner-managers will “significantly reinvest back into Opera,” Isaac continued. The Accuro management team will remain in place, while staff will be both incentivised through our employee benefit trust and eligible within Opera’s group-wide share scheme.

“Opera’s five-year strategic plan (which is already well underway, with important fiduciary and funds acquisitions in key jurisdictions) is engineered to offer a strong multi-jurisdictional platform with innovative operating systems and digitisation for efficiency, optimisation, and increased service lines,” he said.

“We are aware that only a respected source of patient capital from families who are just like our clients would suit our capital growth needs and values. This is why we embraced this unique opportunity to become a part of Opera, after an extensive and thorough search,” he added. 

Once the transaction is complete, Accuro’s advisors and clients can tap into a global platform stretching from the Bahamas to Mauritius and the Channel Islands to Switzerland, the Isle of Man and England. 

Opera has made similar moves as part of a five-year plan. In March, Oak group, the fiduciary, corporate, and fund administration business, officially transitioned to private ownership under Opera.