The office opened today, Vistra said, following the granting of a licence to operate as a Mauritius management company by the local regulatory authority. It is located in Ebene, a rapidly-developing business district in which the major banks, accountancy firms and local authorities have their offices, which is around a 10-minute drive from Mauritius’s capital, Port Louis.
An island of 2,040 sq km (787 sq miles), making it roughly four times the size of the Isle of Man, Mauritius is located off the southeast coast of Africa, east of Madagascar. It is a former British colony with a population of 1.3 million, but only around 1.5% speaks English, with most of the rest speaking a Creole dialect, a legacy of its years under French rule, among other influences.
In a statement, Vistra said its executives believed Mauritius was well located to provide investment structuring services to clients located in Africa, which is seen as having significant natural resource wealth and rapidly growing economies.
“At the same time, Vistra believes having a Mauritius base will offer significant opportunities to target inbound and outbound investments in the Indian economy, one of the fastest growing and most vibrant in the world,” the Vistra statement said.
Heading up the office locally as a resident director will be Richard Arlove, a 30-year veteran of Mauritius’s international business sector, whose previous roles included serving for 11 years as chief executive of a management company operating in the region, according to Vistra, which did not name the company. It said he also spent ten years in the accounting profession, both in the UK and in Mauritius.
Nousrath Bhugeloo is also a locally-based director, while Oliver Hoyng is a non-resident director with group oversight responsibilities.
Globally-ranked
Vistra has largely succeeded in its goal, stated some years back, of becoming one of the world’s largest internationally-focused fiduciary and corporate services providers.
With roots and offices in London and Jersey, it sold a majority stake in 2009 to IK Investment Partners, a Scandinavian private equity firm, as part of its growth strategy, which in turn last year acquired Hong Kong-based Offshore Incorporations from the Carlyle Group.
Today Vistra’s parent, the OV Group, employs around 500 people and claims to be the world’s third-largest provider of trust and corporate services.
Of this number, Vistra accounts for around 350, and operates out of 23 offices in 19 jurisdictions.
