The Tribune

SMP Partners, which has a Bahamian subsidiary, yesterday announced it has expanded its Cayman Islands presence with the acquisition of Solaris Corporate Services.

Steve McGowan, SMP Partners' group chairman, said in a statement: "This acquisition further consolidates our position in Grand Cayman following the acquisitions of the trust, corporate, custody and fund administration business from Royal Bank of Canada, and the trust and corporate book of business from Cayman National last year."

Solaris was previously the corporate services affiliate of Solomon Harris, a Cayman legal firm that has recently merged with international firm, Bedell Cristin.

Stephen Turner, SMP Partners chief executive for the Caribbean region, said: "We have been administering this book of business since September 1, 2018, and will work closely with Solomon Harris and their new colleagues within Bedell Cristin to ensure a smooth transition of the book of business over to SMP.

"Solaris will operate as a subsidiary of SMP Partners (Cayman) with its own dedicated team to ensure its clients continue to receive a professional and responsive service, and Solomon Harris will continue to act as legal advisers for those clients."

Mr Turner added: "This agreement is an opportunity to grow our Cayman corporate administration operation, further enhancing the breadth of services and opportunities for our clients and staff. We see great opportunity for the further growth of our group, both here in Grand Cayman and in The Bahamas, and will continue to look for similar acquisition opportunities with like-minded businesses."

The SMP Partners Group employs more than 200 staff, and is headquartered in the Isle of Man. It provides trust, custody, fund, corporate administration and accounting services with offices in the Isle of Man, Cayman, The Bahamas, Jersey, Hong Kong, Malta and Switzerland.

The transaction has already been approved by Cayman regulators and closed on November 8, 2018. The financial terms were not disclosed.