Sovereign acquires The JLJ Group, a specialist provider of China Entry and Growth Services

Hong Kong, 25th April 2013 - The Sovereign Group, the independent, international wealth management and corporate services provider, has acquired The JLJ Group, an integrated services provider that accelerates international companies' ability to understand and operate in the China market.

JLJ, which has offices in Shanghai and Beijing, will be combined with Sovereign's existing operations in China. The new Shanghai office will employ 20 staff, while another five employees will be based in the Beijing branch.
The JLJ Group was formed in 2003 and has wor
ked with over 600 clients, including government organisations and companies of all sizes – from Fortune 500 multinational corporations and global brands, to a variety of small and medium-sized enterprises.

JLJ services include market research and consulting, company formation and accounting outsourcing, which make it a perfect addition to Sovereign's global business.

Howard Bilton, Chairman of The Sovereign Group, said: "Setting up a business in China is particularly fraught with difficulties and can involve enormous bureaucracy. We have been working with JLJ for some time and recognised their considerable expertise in this area. This acquisition allows Sovereign to offer its worldwide clientele an efficient and high quality service for those wishing to do business in China and strengthens the Sovereign global offering.”

Timothy Lamb, Managing Director of The JLJ Group, said: "We are excited about the opportunities this acquisition brings us to expand our service offerings while being part of a global company of dedicated professionals.”

In 2012, 44% of global Foreign Direct investment (FDI) inflows were hosted by only five countries. China attracted the lion's share of USD 253 billion (or 18% of total) followed by the United States (USD 175 billion), Brazil (USD 65 billion), the United Kingdom (USD 63 billion) and France (USD 62 billion) – Source: FDI in Figures, published by Investment Division, Secretariat of the OECD Investment Committee, April 2013).

Ends.

About The Sovereign Group

The Sovereign Group's core business is setting up and managing companies, trusts, pensions and other compliant structures to meet the specific personal or business needs of its clients. Typically these would include tax planning, wealth management, succession planning, foreign property ownership and facilitating cross-border business.

The first Sovereign office opened in Gibraltar in 1987 and the Group now has offices in over 25 international finance centres worldwide. This enables us to provide local expertise on an international scale and gives clients access to a global service from a local point of delivery. In all jurisdictions that require us to be licensed we have applied for, and been granted, the appropriate authorisations.
We work with public companies, charities and professional law and accountancy firms, but the majority of our clients are individuals – expatriates, entrepreneurs, consultants, private investors and high net worth individuals and their families.

To serve our client base better we have further developed a wide range of supporting services that includes international pensions, asset management, specialist tax advice, ship and yacht registration, insurance, immigrant investor programmes, as well as trademark and intellectual property registration and protection.

For more information, please contact:

Tiffany Pinkstone, Asia Tel: +852 2542 1177 Email: TPinkstone@SovereignGroup.com
Ian LeBreton, Europe Tel: +350 200 76173 Email: ILeBreton@SovereignGroup.com

Or visit the site: www.SovereignGroup.com

For more information on The JLJ Group, please visit www.JLJGroup.com or contact info@JLJGroup.com