Vespa Capital partners with Origo leadership team in taking the fintech independent

Vespa Capital is delighted to announce it has partnered with the leadership team at Origo to establish the fintech as a fully independent company.

Origo is the critical infrastructure fintech provider to the pensions and lifetime savings industry. It was established in 1989 as a non-profit organisation owned by twelve pensions providers and investment management firms with a mandate to develop technology solutions to solve inefficiencies and process pain points across the industry.

Since inception, Edinburgh-based Origo has developed several market leading technology products across its two brands, Origo and Unipass, helping to transform the industry as well as connecting the market for the benefit of pensions providers, financial advisers and consumers.

Vespa Capital is supporting the incumbent management team led by Anthony Rafferty (CEO), Graham McLachlan (CFO), Garry Miller (COO) and Richard Clark (CCO). The investment will enable Origo to become a fully independent company with the governance structure and support to invest in developing existing offerings and deliver new solutions for the pensions and wider financial services markets.

Anthony Rafferty, CEO of Origo, said: “This is an exciting move for Origo, which will now be a fully independent business. Our focus will remain on delivering effective technologies across the financial services marketplace for the benefit of everyone – boosting efficiencies, improving performance, delivering faster asset transfers, reducing integration costs, helping to keep the industry secure, and importantly, improving the industry’s service to UK consumers.

“With the backing of Vespa Capital, we can take Origo to the next stage in our journey as the industry’s critical infrastructure fintech, continuing to invest in our existing product range and building new technology to help take the market forward and deliver even better outcomes for consumers.

“We will continue to work collaboratively with the industry to deliver the technology and services that it needs to operate now and into the future.

“We believe Vespa Capital will be an ideal investment partner due to their track record of developing technology businesses, supporting growth and working collaboratively with management teams.”

Iain Duffin, retiring Chairman of Origo, said: “Partnering with Vespa Capital is absolutely the right thing for our customers, the business, and our founding shareholders.

“Origo will benefit from Vespa Capital’s investment into the business and their clear focus on the end customer, which perfectly aligns with Origo’s vision for the business.”

Khidhr Shafiq, Director at Vespa Capital said: “Origo has a long history of providing the UK pensions and lifetime savings industries with mission critical technology and has an impressive management team intent on delivering further innovative and valuable technology to the market.

"We look forward to partnering with the Origo team during this next exciting phase of the company’s growth.”

The transaction was concluded on 20 May for an undisclosed sum. Vespa Capital was advised on this transaction by DLA Piper, BDO, Fairgrove, Confidas, Blick Rothenberg, Intechnica & CISO Select.

Origo's shareholders were advised by Craven Street Capital and MBM Commercial.

For further information please contact:

Origo: Rob Kingsbury | KGR Media Services | 07900 931 305

About Origo

Origo is the FinTech company dedicated to connecting the financial services marketplace for the benefit of everyone – boosting efficiencies, improving performance, and reducing integration costs, while significantly improving financial outcomes for consumers.

About Vespa Capital

Vespa Capital is a UK focussed, lower mid-market, private equity investment firm, founded by experienced industry practitioners, with a focus on supporting MBOs and private company recapitalisations. Vespa Capital has a strong track record of partnering with differentiated, niche and quality-leading B2B services businesses enabling management teams to achieve their growth objectives.