Leading digital technology services consultancy Fimatix has announced the acquisition of Financial Services technology specialist Idea Group for an undisclosed sum, as part of its next stage of growth in the digital services marketplace.
The purchase enables Fimatix to expand its public sector and consulting arms by integrating and building out Idea Group’s existing technology solutions and services and marrying them with pre-existing internal expertise across a wide range of sectors. Idea Group has over twenty years’ experience servicing the financial services community, where it has earned a reputation for fostering innovation, particularly in the pensions sector.
Incorporating Idea Group’s Prodigy solution will place Fimatix at the cutting edge of regulatory governance and reporting – especially important with the growing emphasis on ESG – by allowing clients to collate data and apply process controls to get full governance insight through the entire lifecycle of financial services products and services.
Idea Group’s Nova Gateway applications will complement Fimatix’ existing financial services expertise by providing a complete series of tools to streamline information interaction within the Investment Management industry. A number of leading investment managers and pension administrators benefit from using Nova to send and receive high value fund orders and transfers over SWIFT and other networks.
Idea Group’s founder, Ian Lyall, who has worked in the industry since 1995, provides the company with one of the expert voices in the sector and will sit on the Fimatix EXCO as Chief Technology Officer. Idea Group’s Non-executive Chairman Mike Craston has also joined Fimatix as an Independent Director, and will bring with him the experience of time spent as Chairman of Aviva, and CEO of Legal & General.
Tim Howarth, CEO of Fimatix, said of the acquisition:
“We are thrilled with the acquisition of Idea Group, a company that have long shared our dedication to using tech to solve issues within the financial sector, by making regulations easier to adhere to. They have provided top tier services within the investment management and pensions industry for over 20 years and will form a crucial part of Fimatix portfolio of offerings.”
“The acquisition comes at a critical time for the pensions industry and for Fimatix as we look to focus on regulated industries, while the importance of reporting ESG in particular, both to government and businesses, continues to grow creating new opportunities for our suite of tech products.”
Ian Lyall, Managing Director of Idea Group, said:
“Fimatix’ vision and sense of purpose far exceeded that of other companies who have recently expressed an interest in acquiring Idea Group. The Fimatix team possess unparalleled industry experience, yet as ‘seasoned entrepreneurs’ they have the mindset, energy and values that would more commonly be associated with a start-up business.
Idea Group has been developing enterprise class solutions for many years and joining Fimatix will allow us to greatly increase our distribution and reach, whilst we continue to innovate to
provide real business benefits to our customers. We are hugely excited to join with Fimatix on this new chapter.”
