IBS Journal November 2015


Crealogix muscles into German market


Swiss software vendor Crealogix and Germany-based provider Fiducia & GAD have signed a long-term partnership agreement that sees the former obtain a majority share in the latter’s Elaxy advisory subsidiary. Crealogix will be acquiring an 80%


stake in Elaxy Financial Software and a 20% stake in Elaxy Business Solution and Services. The two holdings will become valid at the start of 2016. The Elaxy subsidiaries employ 100 staff


and have a combined turnover of around €10 million.


Smooth transitions Fiducia & GAD, which supplies Elaxy services to more than 350 bank branches owned by Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank, will be working to ensure a smooth transition for its clients. Crealogix, it is understood, will be looking to increase its stake in the future. The two firms, it has been announced,


will carry out ‘regular joint discussions’ on strategic operations and work co-oper- atively to carry out any further software implementations. Crealogix has used the acquisition to


prop up its digital banking advisory port- folio, as well as make inroads into the Ger-


man market. The deal, according to the Swiss vendor, offers ‘excellent access to a much enlarged group of clients’. Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank clients


face increasing competition from digital play- ers in the industry, says Klaus-Peter Bruns, chairman of the board at Fiducia & GAD. As a result of the partnership with


Crealogix, he says, the firm knows that it has ‘the backing of an effective partner’ for addressing client concerns about digital- isation.


Avaloq’d out Crealogix has also made steps into the UK market, having acquired trading services


supplier MBA Systems. The company has been looking to


diversify and expand following the cooling of its long-standing relationship with fellow Swiss vendor Avaloq. Crealogix used to provide its front-


end digital banking solution to the users of Avaloq’s core banking platform, Avaloq Banking Suite, until Avaloq developed its own digital banking solution a couple of years ago.


Not only did Avaloq start offering its


own development to new core customers, but it has also set about replacing the Cre- alogix system at its existing installations. Alex Hamilton


Diebold offers $1.8bn for acquisition of rival ATM maker Wincor Nixdorf


ATM firms Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf are in deep discussion over a takeover worth up to $1.8 billion. US-based Diebold is the second-largest


company in the ATM market and has entered into an agreement with rival Wincor Nixdorf, which occupies the spot below it in third. The deal has valued the German com-


pany’s shares at €52.50 each. It is believed the deal will be complet-


ed quickly in order to allow both compa- nies to make inroads into the digital pay- ments space. Though the deal has been described by


both companies as nonbinding, Wincor Nix- dorf’s shares have surged in the wake of the news, jumping by as much as 23% .


10 The outlay for the acquisition eclipses


Diebold’s previous largest takeover rom 1999, when it purchased Procomp for $225 million.


Cash-strapped If the deal is consummated it will create an industrial leader with a share of around 35%, ahead of NCR Corporation (which holds around 25%). The deal will also increase Diebold’s


historically low-level presence in Europe, which accounts for only around 15% of its current sales. Wincor Nixdorf announced a restruc-


turing in April 2015, cutting 1,100 jobs amid declining sales.


© IBS Intelligence 2015 www.ibsintelligence.com Both companies have moved at a time


when market interest in financial hard- ware is failing. Wincor Nixdorf CEO Eckard Heidloff said in April that ‘the trend towards digitisation embraced by both banks and retailers has added to the momentum of change [from ATMs and hardware], with software and high-end service solutions playing a prominent role’. In the UK the reliance on cash pay-


ments, as well as ATM usage, is certainly in decline. A Payments UK report has recently found that card payments will overtake cash by the end of 2016. It also reports that cash usage is set to decline by as much as 30% in ten years’ time (see p20).


Alex Hamilton Crealogix HQ, Zürich


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