VISUEL_PERS_WENDEL_ACAMS_220215

ACAMS

ACAMS is the world’s largest membership organization dedicated to fighting financial crime

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CAPITAL HELD BY WENDEL
98
AMOUNT INVESTED BY WENDEL
$338
YEAR OF ACQUISITION
2022

ACAMS (Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists) is the world’s largest(3) membership organization dedicated to ending financial crime through continuing professional education, training and certifications, in the areas of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), financial crime prevention and sanctions compliance.

(1) Share of equity owned by Wendel as of December 31, 2024.
(2) Amount of equity invested by Wendel in ACAMS as of December 31, 2024, representing €303 million.
(3) Based on public data.
Key Figures
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$102.1 m
2024 Sales
price2
70,000
professionals certified
monde-monde-2
190
jurisdictions
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~300
employees

Why did we invest in ACAMS?

On March 10, 2022, Wendel completed the acquisition of ACAMS (Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists) from Adtalem Global Education (NYSE: ATGE). This transaction valued ACAMS’ enterprise value at approximately $500 million. Wendel invested $338 million in equity and holds 98% of the company’s share capital alongside the company’s management and a minority shareholder.

ACAMS is the world’s largest membership organization dedicated to ending financial crime through continuing professional education, training and certification in the areas of Anti-Money Laundering (AML), financial-crime prevention and sanctions compliance. The company benefits from a large global network of
over 115,000 members in more than 190 jurisdictions. Of these members, more than 70,000 professionals hold CAMS certifications that require rigorous preparation, periodic renewals, and continuing education and training, including webinars and conference attendance. ACAMS employs some 300 people, mainly in the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong, who together serve a global customer base. The Company generates around 55% of its sales outside of the United States and has a long history of organic growth through global expansion and the introduction of new programs aimed at supporting its
customers’ and members’ fight against an increasingly complex financial-crime environment.

Wendel’s investment is in line with Wendel’s stated objective of accelerating the redeployment of capital to higher-growth companies that share the ESG values of the Wendel Group.

What is the development potential?

This past year has been pivotal in the Company’s transformation, with the addition of CEO Neil Sternthal who joined from Thomson Reuters in early 2024 and subsequently made several additions to the senior leadership team, and shifted focus to core growth with large enterprise customers, product and market expansion including the introduction of its Certified Anti‑Fraud Specialist certification (CAFS), and key investments in the technology platform. These critical investments are all geared toward advancing the impact of the Company’s mission of combating financial crime, accelerating its strategy and further developing its position as a technology‑enabled provider of trusted information, data and analytics for the anti‑financial crime (AFC) community.

Management expects the significant changes will, over time, create a more robust platform for the global AFC community and a more scalable, consistent business model with accelerated growth for ACAMS. ACAMS anticipates modest growth in 2025 as the recent changes take hold with improved growth toward the end of the year and into 2026.

ACAMS has also recruited several key members to its management team, including a sales director, a conference sales leader and a sales leader for the Asia‑Pacific region.

Wendel’s role in corporate governance

Board of Directors
Adam Reinmann (Chairman)
Mel Immergut (Senior Advisor)
Harper Mates

Audit Committee
Harper Mates (Chairman)
Adam Reinmann

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