Well, it’s hard to imagine, but another year has nearly passed, which means it’s time, once again, for my end-of-year fintech acquisition write-up. Believe it or not, I was wrong last year when I predicted that 2011 would result in MORE acquisitions. Last year, I compiled a list of 43 and this year, I have come across 34 notable acquisitions in total. The year, however, ended better than it started. By the end of the first quarter last year, there were already 14 acquisitions and this year, there were only six, but 2011 seems to be finishing strong. Other than IBM’s acquisition of Algorithmics and OpenLink’s acquisition of SolArc, there don’t seem to be as many “Did you hear” acquisitions that would be discussed with your colleagues around the water cooler. It looks like companies were making more strategic acquisitions this year to increase their global presence, especially in the Canadian market. It is also worthwhile to note the number of private equity acquisitions this year, as it appears to be a good year for investing in financial technology providers. Last year, Thomson Reuters had the most acquisitions, but this year, SunGard made the most purchases with four companies. But, enough about that, check out the list yourselves and be sure to let me know if I’ve left any out!
January
Sterci announces acquisition of majority shareholding in Simplex, a global transaction services provider
Reval acquires ecofinance, a treasury management system provider in Central Europe.
February
SunGard Acquires PredictiveMetrics, a provider of predictive scoring and analytical services for trade credit, debt collections, utilities and other markets
March
Advent Software Announces Acquisition of Syncova, a privately held UK-based company that provides margin management and financing software to hedge funds and prime brokers
SS&C Acquires BenefitsXML, provider of enterprise software solutions for employee benefit service providers
SunGard Acquires ValueLink Information Services, a supplier of validated financial data solutions
April
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services Acquires Spring Programs Ltd., an independent provider of financial regulatory reporting solutions in the UK banking market
SunGard Acquires Stratix Consulting, leading provider of IT consulting services to Canada’s financial services companies
DST Systems Acquires Assets of Finix Business Strategies (a financial services consulting firm) and Finix Converge, a technology firm that develops and distributes an enterprise social networking and media platform to enable firms to connect and collaborate with their constituents online
May
Thomson Reuters Acquires World-Check, a global provider of financial crime and corruption prevention information
RTS Realtime Systems Group acquires First Futures Software Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (FFS), a high-end technology solutions provider in Pune, India.
Netik acquires CorrectNet, a global financial information management provider
June
Financial Software Systems Inc. acquires Tecnología, Asesoría, Sistemas, S.A. de C.V., a provider of treasury and risk management software and services in Mexico.
DST Systems acquires Subserveo, Inc., a Vancouver, B.C.-based provider of automated compliance and surveillance solutions to broker-dealers and investment advisors
Wedbush Acquires Lime Brokerage, provider of ultra low-latency, ultra high-throughput trading technologies and high-volume agency brokerage services
July
ConvergEx Group Announces Definitive Agreement to be Acquired by CVC Capital Partners, a private equity and investment advisory firm
Patsystems plc acquires Mixit Inc., a US-based developer and vendor of sell-side Order Management Systems (OMS) and Execution Management Systems (EMS) for equities and options trading
August
SS&C Technologies acquires BDO Simpson Xavier Fund Administration Services Limited, a Dublin-based fund administration business
September
SunGard Acquires FINACE, a provider of securities lending and collateral management software
The Carlyle Group acquires ITRS Group, a provider of trade monitoring technology and services to the financial services sector
Francisco Partner acquires control of eFront, a business software solutions provider dedicated to the financial industry
MarkitSERV acquires Logiscope, a provider of post-trade workflow solutions and straight-through-processing (STP) for foreign exchange (FX) transactions.
Hellman and Friedman acquires OpenLink from The Carlyle Group
Broadridge acquires Paladyne Systems, provider of buy-side technology and services
IBM Acquires Algorithmics, a risk analytics firm
Fundtech Agrees to be Acquired by GTCR, a private equity firm
October
OpenLink acquires SolArc, a provider of commodity management solutions
Wolters Kluwer Financial Services acquires SASGAS, a provider of financial reporting software solutions to the foreign and domestic bank market in China
Lime Brokerage acquires Cactus Trading Systems, a high performance multi-asset class trading engine
November
Markit Acquires Quantitative Research Specialist QSG, a provider of independent equity research, advanced trading analytics and investment consulting services
FFastFill plc Announces Acquisition of the Trade and Assets of Chicago-based WTD Consulting, Inc., a Chicago-based technology consulting and software solutions business
CARE Acquires Majority Stake in KRTL, a company providing risk management software solutions with a focus on banking and financial services domain addressing the areas of enterprise risk management
Dion Global Solutions Acquires Investmaster Group Limited, a UK-based specialist provider of wealth management and stockbroking software
December
Progress Software Corporation Acquires Corticon, a Business Rules Management System (BRMS) vendor
Well, since I was wrong with my 2011 prediction that we would see more acquisitions in the fintech space, I’ll leave the analysis up to our readers. What do you think 2012 will bring?
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