London-based banking software vendor Financial Objects is establishing an offshore development centre in India after acquiring Bangalore-based Afrocom Technologies, a company that specialises in developing systems based on the Microsoft .net platform.
The Afrocom operation has been renamed Financial Objects Software (India) and will provide additional development and QA capabilities for the vendor's activebank product.
The Indian unit currently employs 28 staff, which the vendor hopes to double in number by the end of the year. Additionally, three managers from Financial Objects' London operations will be transferred to Bangalore.
Peter Watts, director, activebank division, Financial Objects, comments: "This acquisition greatly enhances our competitive ability to win new development business based around our activebank technologies. Rather than outsource development to a third party, as is the industry norm, we wanted to retain the intellectual property that leaves an organisation when sub-contract development takes place."
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.