Connecticut fintech firms announce plans to merge
Two fast-growing financialtechnology companies with significant operations in Connecticut have agreed to merge.
iCapital, which has offices in Greenwich, announced Tuesday that it would acquire Mirador, which is headquartered in Stamford. Through the acquisition, iCapital aims to expand its data management and reporting capabilities, so it can offer enhanced technology to its clients, company officials said.
“Mirador has set the industry standard for managing data with leading third-party performance reporting providers,” Lawrence Calcano, iCapital’s CEO and chairman, said in a written statement. “This acquisition further enhances and broadens the service model iCapital delivers through our market-leading alternative investment operating system and allows us to deliver on our goal of creating a reliable end-toend data management capability for the industry. Integrating Mirador’s exceptional financial reporting capabilities creates a holistic solution for both wealth and asset managers.”
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
All of Mirador’s more than 180 employees will join iCapital, and all of its offices will remain open after the acquisition is completed, according to Mirador officials. Mirador’s roster includes approximately 120 people based at its headquarters at 850 Canal St., in the South End of Stamford, a location that opened in October 2022, after the firm relocated from Darien. Mirador also has offices in Dublin; Edinburgh; Jacksonville, Florida; London; Naperville, Illinois; and Salt Lake City, Utah.
In September 2021, iCapital opened offices in the Greenwich Plaza complex, in downtown Greenwich. Its current Greenwich head count was not immediately available on Tuesday, but about 130 employees were based there at the beginning of 2023. In total, iCapital has more than 1,200 employees.
“Mirador and iCapital share a commitment to provide the wealth management community with easier access to alternative investments. By combining Mirador’s data aggregation, comprehensive reporting capabilities and customizable service model with iCapital’s scale, global reach and industry-leading technology solutions, we will offer clients of both firms a robust suite of enhanced resources,” Joseph Larizza, Mirador’s CEO and president, said in a statement.
Mirador’s services support the performance-reporting requirements of family offices, wealth managers, endowments, and foundations, while iCapital is a technology partner for independent financial advisers, wealth managers and asset managers.
“At the forefront of the digital transformation in alternative investing, iCapital’s secure platform delivers a complete portfolio of management capabilities for education, transactions, data flows, analytics, and client support throughout the investment lifecycle,” says an excerpt in an iCapital news release about the acquisition agreement. “With $180.92 billion in global platform assets, the iCapital operating system automates and streamlines the complex process of private market investing and seamlessly integrates with clients’ existing infrastructure platform and tools.”
As a sign of Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration support for the financial-technology industry, iCapital and Mirador have qualified for state subsidies to support their growth in Connecticut. Through an agreement with the state Department of Economic and Community Development that was announced in 2021, iCapital can earn up to $2.94 million in grants, if it creates 200 fulltime jobs in the state. Mirador’s own deal with DECD, which was announced in 2022, allows it to receive up to $3.24 million in grant funding, if it creates 250 full-time jobs.
“DECD will need to review the details of the merger prior to determining how iCapital and Mirador’s agreements will be impacted,” Jim Watson, a spokesman for DECD, said in an email on Tuesday. Lamont’s administration hopes that financial tech firms such as iCapital and Mirador will eventually help revitalize the state’s financial services industry, whose employment numbers declined significantly in the years after the 2008 financial crisis. There were an estimated 118,700 jobs in financial activities in Connecticut in February 2024 — up only 300 positions, or 0.3% from February 2023, and down 18% from March 2008, when the state reached its all-time payroll employment peak, according to data from the state Department of Labor.