New Private Equity takes minority stake in fund governance firm ONE

What the deal covers

According to the announcement, ONE group solutions ("ONE") provides third-party fund management company (ManCo/AIFM) and governance services to asset managers worldwide. The company was founded in 2019 and now serves more than 200 clients with close to 200 professionals across 8 offices. NPE says ONE continues to grow over 35% annually.

ONE's founders and management team will keep a substantial shareholding. CEO Steve Bernat will continue to lead the business, which NPE and ONE say ensures continuity for clients and employees. The transaction was approved by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).

NPE was advised by White & Case (legal), PwC (financial, tax, structuring and commercial) and AlixPartners (technology). ONE was advised by PwC Luxembourg (financial, tax) and Vertumnus (legal).

Data and AI at the center of the plan

NPE describes itself as an investor in vertical software and technology-enabled services. The firm says it is pioneering the NPE Control Tower, a proprietary, digital end-to-end private equity workflow that uses data and technology to generate alpha. It says it identified and validated ONE as a partner through its own framework for investment identification and underwriting.

After an investment, NPE says it supports its partners with proprietary tools and applications built on Foundry, a data infrastructure platform. The firm states that it starts value creation during due diligence rather than after closing.

ONE and NPE have already launched several programs. The first is a unified data and ontology layer across ONE's governance workflows, along with an augmentation of core systems. The aim is to speed up product innovation while maintaining service quality. ONE has been selected into the Palantir for Builders program, which enables these initiatives.

With NPE as a partner, ONE plans to increase investment in technology and data capabilities, in AI and automation across fund governance workflows, and in the commercial team needed for larger and more complex mandates. The stated goal is a delivery model that scales without diluting service quality, client satisfaction or client value.

Geographic expansion and statements

ONE intends to "double down" in its core jurisdictions of Luxembourg, Ireland and the UK, and to expand aggressively in the United States. The announcement says asset managers there increasingly look for independent, technology-enabled governance partners. NPE's Miami base and US network are meant to support the build-out.

Francesco Barosi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at NPE, described the model this way: "take a business that already serves its clients well and give it the data, tools and execution discipline to serve them even better." He said every program launched is measured on the client side, including quality of service, customer satisfaction, expansion and value delivered.

Steve Bernat, Co-Founder and CEO of ONE, said the firm was not actively looking for a new partner but chose NPE because its technology-driven investment philosophy aligns with ONE's conviction that "governance must evolve through data, digitalization, and high touch expertise."

What it means for clients and the market

For ONE's clients, the companies say the investment should translate into broader offerings, greater productivity and better client outcomes, with continuity in leadership. Revel Wood, Co-Founder and Head of Strategic Relationships at ONE, said the investment lets the firm invest in its people and platform and broaden what it offers clients.

For the market, the deal pairs a fast-growing independent governance provider with an investor focused on data infrastructure and AI. It also signals a push by a Luxembourg-based firm into the US market. Details such as the size of the stake and the valuation were not disclosed, so the scale of the commitment remains unclear.