IQ-EQ, an Astorg portfolio company, has entered into an agreement to acquire Zenith Global, an independent service provider specialised in solutions for securitisation and structured finance transactions in Italy.
This acquisition gives us our first operations in Italy, a key growth market, while bolstering our global capital markets and structured finance service proposition. The transaction is announced subject to regulatory approval from the Bank of Italy and the Italian Government’s foreign direct investment (FDI) review board.
Zenith Global (“Zenith”) delivers a comprehensive suite of securitisation services, including SPV and corporate servicing, portfolio servicing (master servicer, primary and special servicer, back-up servicer, calculation agent), regulatory services, and structuring. The team also holds specialist expertise in real estate securitisation.
Established in 1999, Zenith has since grown into a highly respected, internationally oriented and mature business with 200+ employees across its two offices in Milan and Rome. It’s a leading player in the Italian securitisation services market and stands out as a market leader for innovative, sophisticated structures catered to international investors.
Zenith has achieved consistently strong year-on-year growth over the past decade and enjoyed a record year of performance in 2024. It boasts an impressive client base of leading private debt and equity players as well as numerous Italian, European and global banks. It’s responsible for 270+ SPVs and has approx. €50bn in assets under management as a master servicer.
Zenith is registered in the single register held by the Bank of Italy, pursuant to Article 106 of the Italian Banking Act.
Commenting on the announcement, Mark Pesco, our Group Chief Executive Officer, said:
“This investment marks another significant milestone in our global expansion strategy. It’s an exciting opportunity to secure a solid presence in a new key growth market, build upon Zenith’s established track record in securitisation solutions, and further strengthen our offering of comprehensive, end-to-end support services for the private markets globally. Together with our acquisition of AMAL Group in the ANZ market earlier this year, we’re really cementing our position as a global provider in the capital markets and structured finance space.
“Zenith is a market leader and mature player with a strong track record serving institutional clients and international investors. What’s more, they have a very impressive, experienced and diverse senior leadership team led by CEO Umberto Rasori. Critically, Zenith not only complements IQ-EQ’s existing service expertise but exhibits strong cultural alignment with us through their commitment to service excellence, innovation, sustainability and – most importantly – acting as one team.”
Diana Senanayake, Regional CEO for Continental Europe at IQ-EQ, said:
“This acquisition will see IQ-EQ expand into Italy for the first time, filling a strategic gap for us in continental Europe. The country is experiencing a significant uplift in investment activity and increasingly being mentioned by our clients. Gaining a robust presence in this market therefore represents an important step forward as we strive to better support investors and managers operating globally.
“As well as building out our European footprint, this acquisition extends our global securitisation expertise and service offering. Zenith’s sizeable portfolio of real estate clients will help us grow in that space as well, adding to our existing regional and global real assets expertise, complementing our real estate fund and corporate services in Luxembourg and the Netherlands as well as niche offerings like our real estate AIFM platforms in France and Luxembourg.”
Completion of this acquisition is anticipated in Q1 2026. Chief Executive Officer of Zenith Global, Umberto Rasori, will continue to lead the Italian business and will join our Continental Europe senior leadership team, ensuring continuity of the day-to-day delivery of services. He commented:
“We’re delighted to become part of IQ-EQ’s global footprint, a fully independent group whose vision and values we strongly share. I’m confident that this integration will further enhance our range of products and create new opportunities for our clients, and I’m excited to work closely with Mark, Diana and the wider team to expand our business as part of IQ-EQ’s international group. Being part of the regional leadership team is both a great recognition and an exciting challenge. My sincere thanks go to the Zenith team and to all our colleagues for enabling this important achievement and the beginning of this new adventure.”
This latest transaction notably follows the recent completion of our AMAL Group acquisition in Australia and New Zealand. Both in the securitisation services sector, these acquisitions reflect the firm’s focus on building out this service offering worldwide.
