Swiss vendor Temenos is to acquire the core banking assets of Greek systems integration house Informer for $40.3 million in cash and shares.
Temenos says the acquisition will enable it to strengthen its direct channel presence and expand its footprint in key growth markets in Greece and the Middle East.
The Informer Financial business specialises in core banking implementation project. The company claims to have been responsible for 30 core banking system replacements and 110 banking project implementations over the past decade.
Temenos and Informer have a long history of collaboration, both in Greece and in Eastern Europe, where the two set up a joint venture distribution operation. Temenos acquired the 49% stake it didn't already own in the Eastern European venture from Informer for $15.5 million in 2004. At the same time the Swiss vendor terminated its distribution agreement in Greece and set up its own sales branch in Athens.
Informer, however, continued to act as a systems integration partner on Temenos projects. In November, the firm completed a challenging and complex upgrade from Temenos Globus G11 to the T24 R06 core banking system at Attica Bank. Off home turf in March, it performed a similar upgrade project at Egypt's Commercial International Bank.
The acquisition comes at an expansive time for Temenos, which last month agreed a cash offer of 60 pence per share for London-based software provider Financial Objects.