NEC buys $2.2bn Swiss finance software firm Avaloq

Japan’s NEC Corp said on Monday it will buy unlisted Swiss financial software company Avaloq Group AG for 2.05 billion Swiss francs ($2.2 billion).

NEC will acquire unlisted Avaloq, Europe’s top provider of financial asset management software, from Avaloq’s founder and employees and private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

According to Reuters, Avaloq, whose customers include Deutsche Bank and HSBC, reported sales of $664 million last year.

“The acquisition of Avaloq will provide NEC with digital finance software and domain knowledge as it enters into the field globally and strengthens its business in the digital government field,” said NEC.

“The acquisition is expected to be worth 2.05 billion Swiss francs, and to be completed by April 2021, following the confirmation of necessary procedures and approvals for each organization …

“Avaloq is a global leader in digital banking solutions and is at the forefront of financial DX as a software developer for financial institutions largely centered in Switzerland, but reaching across more than 150 customers in 30 countries worldwide.

“Avaloq’s business growth is partially driven by recurring business from the provision of software as a service (SaaS) and business process as a service (BPaaS) for wealth management and other applications, as it holds the top market share in wealth management software within Europe and Asia Pacific.

“Furthermore, in recent years Avaloq has worked with FinTech startups and other partners to aggressively promote digitization through AI, blockchain and other technologies as part of capitalizing on new service needs brought on by open banking, particularly in Europe.”

NEC Corporation CEO Takashi Niino said: “NEC will also promote global sales expansion of Avaloq’s software by taking advantage of NEC Group sales channels, including KMD, a leading European software and IT services provider that NEC acquired in February 2019.” 

Avaloq CEO Juerg Hunziker: “Due to very similar values of professionalism, reliability, quality and excellent service for clients with a focus on precision, we firmly believe that this union will be a successful one for all involved and we are looking forward to an exciting and fruitful cooperation.”