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Wall Street Systems Buys Aleri Banking Unit
April 30, 2008
Wall Street Systems, a provider of trading and treasury solutions, has agreed to buy Aleri Global Banking (AGB), the wholesale banking software division of Chicago-based event processing technology vendor Aleri, for an undisclosed price tag.
The deal, announced Tuesday, reflects Aleri’s decision to focus exclusively on complex event processing (CEP) and Wall Street Systems’ commitment to the back-office business, where it specializes in foreign exchange, money market products, exchange-traded contracts, credit and interest rate derivatives and non-U.S. fixed-income instruments. Aleri created the banking division in 2006, four years after acquiring Chicago-based banking software provider mpct Solutions.
“The addition of Aleri Global Banking extends our global footprint in providing cross-asset back-office solutions to global banks--something we are fully committed to for the long term,” said Wall Street Systems president and CEO Joel Mandelbaum in a statement. The companies anticipate finalizing the transaction by the end of May, and Wall Street Systems says it expects to integrate the unit by year-end.
The AGB products will be rebranded under the Wall Street Systems name, and the Aleri unit’s 35 staffers in development, client services, consulting and support will join the New York- and London-based company, as will COO Klaus Laqueur in a yet-to-be-determined role. It has not been decided where the employees will be located.
“The parallels between Aleri Global Banking and Wall Street Systems are clear--both count tier-one banks among their client base and both have strong, established track records in delivering high-volume transaction processing solutions,” said Sean O’Dowd, senior research analyst at Financial Insights. “This is a logical step for Wall Street, which should see AGB clients benefit from a growing and profitable solution provider as well as being part of a larger client base.”
Wall Street Systems has four major product lines: Wallstreet Suite, a cross-asset investment and debt management solution that is widely used by central banks and state treasuries; Wallstreet FX, a front-to-back-office platform supporting forex operations; Wallstreet BackOffice, a workflow management tool that includes cash management functionality; and Wallstreet Treasury, a cash and treasury management tool for corporations.
Founded in 1986, Wall Street Systems was purchased by private equity firm Warburg Pincus in January 2006. In September 2006, Wall Street Systems acquired Trema, one of its main competitors.
Although AGB has only 16 customers, compared to Wall Street Systems’ 307-- five are clients of both firms--the Aleri unit will extend Wall Street’s offerings. Its Atlas, Global Banking Solutions, Continuous Link Settlement (CLS) Server and Money Transfer products “will expand Wall Street’s client base in the branch banking arena while consolidating its position as a tier-one back-office provider,” said Tony White, global co-head of research and development for Wall Street Systems. “The functionality of CLS Server is incorporated in Wall Street’s BackOffice product.”
Wall Street Systems’ bank clients include Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Citigroup, Nordea, Royal Bank of Scotland, RZB, DnB Nor, Scotiabank and Toronto-Dominion Bank. Among its corporate clients are GE Capital, Porsche, Mercer International, Alcatel-Lucent, Philips Group, Procter & Gamble, BP Group, Ford Motor Co., adidas and Mazda Motor Corp.
Aleri CEO Don DeLoach said that his company began to consider selling the unit in 2006, when its flagship CEP product, Aleri Streaming Platform, launched, along with its Liquidity Management System, which enables corporate treasurers to manage their firm’s liquidity in a more automated and effective manner. The Aleri Streaming Platform is a more advanced version of its predecessor, the Aleri Information Engine, which the privately held and venture-capital-backed company unveiled at its founding in 2000.
