The Paypers

The sale of Avaloq, which develops and provides software for core banking, to the Japanese technology group ends a three-year investment by Warburg Pincus, a private equity group. The group now owns 45% of the privately held Avaloq, with the rest in the hands of Avaloq’s founder and its employees.

NEC’s acquisition follows years of restructuring involving the loss of 3,000 jobs and the offloading of unprofitable businesses. The deal, which is expected to close by April 2021, builds on NEC’s purchase in 2019 of KMD, a Danish IT services group, for USD 1.2 billion, and its GBP 475 million takeover of UK’s Northgate Public Services in 2018.

NEC announced that the company planned to use its blockchain and facial recognition technologies to serve the security and privacy needs of Avaloq’s clients. Earlier in 2020 NEC also sealed a capital tie-up with large Japanese telecoms operator NTT to compete in the global race to supply 5G equipment.

Avaloq has about 2,300 employees and serves more than 150 banks and wealth managers in financial centres including London, Frankfurt, and Paris.

NEC to acquire Avaloq for USD 2.2 bln