Merrill Lynch today announced that it has closed an investment in offshore research provider, Copal Partners.

Copal Partners, based in the Channel Islands, announced that Merrill Lynch has made an US$11 million investment in the company. Merrill Lynch joins two other major investment banks, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup as investors in Copal Partners.

Founded in 2002 by a group of professionals from GE Capital, Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Co, Copal Partners provides research and analytics serving investment banks, hedge funds and private equity funds globally. Today, Copal has approximately 550 employees, based in the UK, the United States , India and Mauritius. Copal Partners has consistently delivered superior growth, growing at over 200% year-on-year for the past three years.

“We conducted extensive analysis of the research and analytics marketplace players before selecting Copal,” said David Noh, Head of Pacific Rim Corporate Principal Investments at Merrill Lynch. “What impressed us most was the integrity of Copal’s business model and the high-value analysis that makes it stand apart from its competitors.”

“Merrill Lynch’s financial commitment to us represents a strong vote of confidence in our long-term growth prospects and the validity of our business model,” said Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of Copal Partners. “We are delighted to have them join our other investment banking investors in what we believe is one of the most innovative research and analytics firms to serve the global financial community.”