Hawksford buys leading independent corporate service provider in Asia

Tuesday 19 June 2018

Hawksford has acquired People & Projects Ltd (P&P) to strengthen its current presence in Hong Kong and Singapore and obtain a bigger footprint across major cities in China.

The transaction takes the corporate, private client and fund administration company’s global headcount to over 400, with 200 now based in Asia.

P&P is a full service corporate services business with a strong track record in supporting international corporates to expand their operations, including manufacturing and sales, into and across Asia.

This is the sixth acquisition that Hawksford has made since it was backed by private equity house Dunedin.

P&P’s Partners, Stefano Passarello, Dario Acconci and Giacomo Stoppa will become shareholders in Hawksford and continue in senior management roles ensuring continuity for P&P’s longstanding client base.

Michel van Leeuwen, Group Chief Executive of Hawksford, said: “Hawksford’s acquisition of P&P fits our strategic aim of having a truly pan Asian services platform. Fifty percent of Hawksford’s employees are now based in Asia, demonstrating the importance of the region to our business. We are particularly pleased to have secured our own wholly owned operating capability in China and we believe this will be a major growth driver in coming years. Increasingly, corporate clients want to have access to our services across all of Asia as they look to expand their own businesses throughout the region.

“P&P is run by a team of entrepreneurs and professionals who share Hawksford’s values and strategic goals, and are passionately client-orientated. We look forward to integrating P&P’s staff and services into the Hawksford network. Clients of both Hawksford and P&P will see many benefits from this acquisition.”

P&P Partners Stefano Passarello, Dario Acconci and  Giacomo Stoppa added, “This acquisition presents an exciting opportunity for P&P to gain increased access to the UK market and consolidate our European reach through the established and respected Hawksford brand, while P&P’s reach across key Asian countries was particularly attractive to Hawksford. Under the Hawksford brand, we welcome the chance to provide scalability and new services to our established client base.”

Pictured: From left Michel van Leeuwen, Giacomo Stoppa, Stefano Passarello and Dario Acconci.