SEPTEMBER 2015/ISSUE 25.01


GLOBAL INDEPENDENT PERSPECTIVE ON FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY


Sungard taken over by fellow US financial technology vendor, FIS FIS splashes out $9.1bn in its largest acquisition to date, takes on Sungard’s $4.1bn net debt


US-based banking software heavyweight, FIS, is buying Sungard for $9.1 billion. The deal announced in mid-August follows


IBS Journal being the first to reveal acquisition rumours in July. FIS will pay a combination of cash and stock


that values Sungard at $9.1 billion – including debt. This will create a company with more than $9.2 billion in annual revenues. Gary Norcross, president and chief executive


of FIS, says it is a ‘significant milestone’ and hails the two companies ‘similar cultures’ and shared


values. This is the vendor’s largest acquisition to date.


FIS anticipates refinancing Sungard’s net debt,


which stood at $4.16 billion at the end of June. In June this year, Sungard planned an IPO


after ten years in private equity hands, as it was trying to get its house in order to be attractive for investors.


FIS has a broad range of systems and solutions


under its belt, the vast majority of which have been gained via the M&A route. Its latest large- scale purchase was Clear2Pay, a Belgium-based


payments software vendor, which joined the FIS family last autumn. With this new purchase, FIS gains a presence in


the treasury and capital markets space, which was Sungard’s domain.


FIS will also gain a range of solutions in


investment/asset management, trading and risk management space, plus a core banking system, Ambit Core Banking (mainly used in Asia), and a Swiss private banking core system, Ambit Private Banking.


...continued on page 27


ING overhauls transaction banking software Dutch multinational accelerates transformation plans as rival RBS leaves the market


ING looks to be well positioned to benefit from the surge in corporates looking for new providers with the likes of RBS leaving the transaction banking market. ING has invested heavily in its technology and operations overhaul – ‘Think Forward’ – with key pieces either completed or nearing go-live. ‘We are receiving tremendous numbers of


RFPs: just in the last three months we have received five to six times more requests than we experience in a full year,’ states Mark Buitenhek, global head of transaction services at ING. ‘These corporates are forced into transition as a number of banking players, such as RBS and Standard Chartered are leaving the market, making it even more irritating and complex for the corporates.’ ING, of course, hopes to ease the transition pains, he is quick to add. The continuity of the cash management busi- ness is a key priority for the corporates at the moment, but the possibilities for netting more business (e.g. lending, trade, FX) in due course are vast, Buitenhek muses.


ING HQ, Amsterdam © ING Group


To address the growing demand, ING has


accelerated its plans to become a ‘truly digital bank’ as part of the ‘Think Forward’ strategy that it embarked on a few years ago. ‘We have devised a new target operated model [TOM] of working


Analysis: Key trends in banking technology page 38


from outside in,’ he says. As the bank’s main focus is on the customers, it made sense to start from customer facing solutions and then work its way to the back office, he explains.


...continued on page 26 Case Study: Nordea Luxembourg page 42


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