PE firm Silver Lake to sell financial trading communications IPC Systems for $1.2 bn

Private equity firm Silver Lake Partners yesterday agreed to sell financial trading communications provider IPC Systems Inc to peer Centerbridge Partners for about $1.2 billion.

Silver Lake had acquired IPC in 2006 from Goldman Sachs's private equity arm for about $800 million.

Centerbridge will fund the deal through debt financing provided by Barclays and Credit Suisse Securities (USA).

Founded in 1973 and based in Jersey City, IPC provides trading communication systems to investment banks, hedge funds, and investment managers.

It operates in more than 60 countries, including a network of 5,000 customer sites over 630 cities and has an installed base of around 118,000 trading positions worldwide.

"This transaction follows what has been one of IPC's best years and will help accelerate our continued momentum," said Neil Barua, CEO of IPC.  "Centerbridge has a proven track record of driving long-term sustainable growth, and we look forward to building on our successes with our new owners."

Jared Hendricks, senior managing director of Centerbridge said, "Having followed the Company for a number of years, we are excited to back IPC and its management team through its next phase of growth and development.  IPC is uniquely positioned to deliver tailored, state-of-the-art solutions to serve the complex needs of the financial services community."

The deal is expected to close in January 2015 following regulatory approvals.