Swiss core banking vendor Temenos has signed a definitive agreement to buy French rival Viveo for around $81 million.
The deal - the largest acquisition in Temenos's history - will be financed entirely by existing debt facilities and is expected to be strongly accretive to earnings from 2010.
Established in 1983, Viveo Group claims 750 clients in more than 35 countries and 410 employees, based mainly in France, Romania, Belgium and Geneva. In its last reported year, to 31 December 2008, the firm generated revenues of around $65 million, with high single-digit margins.
Approximately 350 of the vendor's customers use its core banking software and it counts banks like BNP Paribas, Caisse Dépargne, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole, Banques Populaires and La Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild among its customers.
In addition to core banking software, Viveo has standalone offerings for payments, compliance, securities and anti-money laundering. Temenos claims the acquisition boosts its sales channel and client base as well as providing access to complementary intellectual property and domain expertise.
Andreas Andreades, CEO, Temenos, says: "The acquisition enhances further our critical mass and establishes a clear leader in core banking, especially in France. In the last 12 months, Temenos has experienced very strong growth in France and joining forces with Viveo will create a powerhouse in this market. More generally, this acquisition adds significantly to the Temenos installed base, giving us the scale to invest more significantly and faster in sales and development to deliver superior value for our customers and shareholders."