Hogan Lovells advises Cardano on its sale to Mercer

Press releases | 13 June 2024

Amsterdam, London, 13 June 2024 - A cross-border M&A team at Hogan Lovells has advised the Cardano Group and its shareholders in connection with the sale of the entire group to Mercer. The transaction is expected to close later this year, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Founded in 2000, Cardano is a long-term savings specialist in the UK and the Netherlands, with approximately $66 billion in assets under management. Cardano offers a range of fiduciary management, investment advisory services, and liability-driven investing and derivatives solutions to both defined benefit (DB) and defined contribution (DC) pension schemes in the UK and the Netherlands, the two largest pensions markets in Europe.

The overall team was led by London-based partner Jonathan Russell, with support from senior associates Catherine Lah and Guy Ker; associates Alex Miller, Blaise Salle and Nancy Ricardo; and trainee solicitors Han-Wei Low and Bethany Bridges.

The Amsterdam-based team was led by partner Victor de Vlaam with support from senior associates Jacob Hoogslag and Janelle de Ruiter and associate Anastasiia Kachalova, while the Luxembourg team comprised partner Alexander Koch and counsel Emmanuel Lamaud. Key specialists included partners Karen Hughes and Philip Harle and associate James Hotchkiss on Tax aspects (London); partner Alexander Fortuin on Tax aspects (Amsterdam); partner Fiona Bantock on ESI aspects (London); partner Stefan Martin on Employment aspects (London); and partner Alice Wallace-Wright and associate Stelios Charitopoulos on Anti-trust aspects (London).

Commenting on the deal, partners Jonathan Russell and Victor de Vlaam said: “We are delighted to have worked with Cardano’s shareholders and management team on this high-profile transaction, building on our previous work supporting Cardano with its acquisitions of the NOW:Pensions business in the UK and Dutch investment management group Actiam. This is a great example of the depth of our cross border M&A and financial institutions practices in the UK, the Netherlands and Luxembourg and we are proud to be able to support Cardano in this next, exciting phase in its development.”