Apex Capital Partners has acquired Peck & Nascimben Global, a Zurich-based firm that specializes in the citizenship by investment (CBI) programs of Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe. The deal gives Apex licenses in both African countries, the firm says.
Marko Peck, Peck & Nascimben’s founder and managing partner, becomes vice president of Apex with immediate effect, according to Apex’s October 13 announcement.
“Our industry is due for consolidation, and Apex, as an industry leader, is continually looking for opportunities to expand its offering,” Apex founder and president Nuri Katz told IMI. Bringing in Peck’s firm, he said, has “expanded our footprint in Africa.”
Under the deal, Apex is “fully absorbing” Peck & Nascimben and its assets, including the Sierra Leone and São Tomé licenses, Katz said in written responses to IMI’s questions. It will also take over the firm’s client relationships and will not keep Peck & Nascimben Global active, he added.
Deal terms
Katz would not disclose the price, calling it “a confidential number.” Financing came “from Apex’s own financial resources,” he said.
Peck & Nascimben’s Zurich office will stay open “for now,” as will all of Apex’s other offices, according to Katz. He did not say how many people the combined firm will employ or how many offices it runs.
African licenses
In the announcement, Peck called the countries where his firm holds licenses “perfectly complementary” to Apex’s offerings. Together, he said, the firms will let clients “access citizenship in some of the highest growth regions of the world.” Katz, in the same release, said high-net-worth individuals “from the Global North are increasingly interested” in the programs Peck’s firm handles.
On the expansion of programs offered, Peck said that he and Katz “share the same high standards and passion for our work and I am pleased to be able to offer existing Peck & Nascimben Global customers a broader selection of programs and services as a part of Apex.”
Argentina
Argentina runs through Katz’s account of the deal. The aim, he said, was to “join forces and together bring on bigger opportunities for all parties involved, especially with Argentina coming on line soon.”
Apex considers the program “a game changer in our industry,” Katz said, and expects to keep growing both organically and through “partnerships and mergers and acquisitions.”
Along with four other firms, Apex belongs to Argentina Mobility for Investment and Global Opportunity Limited (AMIGO), the consortium advising the government on the program’s design and implementation.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo said on October 2 that applications will open in the fourth quarter of 2026. Each main applicant will either make a non-refundable contribution starting at US$350,000 or buy a US$800,000 government bond.
In March, Argentina’s evaluators recommended a consortium of Apex and three other firms for the program’s master agent contract. The government canceled that tender in April after two losing bidders filed challenges.
On June 30, Argentina’s National Electoral Chamber declared null the emergency decree that created the investment route. Its reasoning did not address that route, and the government has reportedly asked the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling. Opposition lawmakers have since filed bills in both chambers of Congress to ban CBI.
Consolidation
Apex announced its acquisition the same week CitizenX bought NTL Trust, the advisory firm founded in the Caribbean in 1994.
Alex Recouso, CitizenX’s chief executive, told IMI at the time that the market was seeing “a lot of changes and consolidation.” Apex’s latest business further proves that point.
Katz said Apex looks forward to working “with Marko and others on further expansion in North America, Asia, and beyond.”
