GCP-backed Plenitude acquires Contineo

GCP is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Contineo, a specialist provider of Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) technical advisory services by its portfolio company Plenitude.

Through this acquisition, Plenitude, the leading financial crime and risk compliance firm, will enhance its specialist technical advisory and data analytics services. The acquisition marks Plenitude’s first M&A activity on the twelfth anniversary of the business’ founding.

Contineo, founded in 2017, provides specialist technical advisory services, including support for FCC technology selection and implementation, Transaction Monitoring, Customer and Transaction Screening tuning, optimisation and independent testing, model validation, and data analytics.  The firm services clients across the UK, US, Europe, and UAE across a broad range of sectors.

The acquisition will support Plenitude’s growth strategy and accelerate the team’s ambition to be the leading specialist tech advisor and implementation partner for innovative & AI-enabled FCC technology solutions. Alongside deploying cutting-edge data analytics, the partnership will drive more efficient and effective financial crime risk management for their clients.

Alan Paterson, Founder & CEO at Plenitude said: “Contineo’s reputation and deep technical advisory capability is impressive. The decision to bring the businesses together felt absolutely right from a strategic standpoint, enabling us to meet the evolving needs of our clients and, accelerating the build out of our tech advisory and data analytics practice. Plenitude has grown organically over the last 12 years, and we always wanted to ensure that any company joining the Plenitude journey had a brilliant culture and reputation for first class delivery. We look forward to welcoming all of the Contineo team.”

Munir Merchant, Founder & CEO at Contineo said: ”On behalf of the Contineo team we are delighted to be joining forces with Alan, Asad and the rest of the Plenitude team, and excited about the opportunities ahead. Contineo and Plenitude have similar beginnings, a common culture, and complementary advisory capabilities which made joining forces a very compelling proposition.  Plenitude’s growth story is impressive, they have a fantastic reputation, and we are excited to leverage all of the benefits that come from the wider group and capabilities they offer. We are looking forward to delivering on the ambition, to be the leading specialist tech advisor and implementation partner for innovative AI-enabled FCC technology solutions.”

Jay Salter, Investment Director at Growth Capital Partners said: “I’m delighted to see Contineo joining forces with us at Plenitude and believe this is a highly strategic acquisition and an outstanding opportunity for growth. Contineo’s specialist technology led advisory skills perfectly complement Plenitude’s subject matter expertise and transformation services to deliver highly valuable business outcomes for a client base with ever-growing FCC needs. We look forward to working closely with Munir and the team to continue Plenitude’s growth journey.”