Newry-based First Derivatives buys ActivateClients

Image caption, This is the latest in a series of purchases by First Derivatives which now employs around 1,000 people
  • Author, John Campbell
  • Role, 大象传媒 News NI Economics & Business Editor

First Derivatives, the Newry-based financial technology firm, has bought a Dublin software firm for 拢3.4m.

ActivateClients specialises in applications and trading systems for the financial markets.

First Derivatives said the takeover would provide it with complementary software products.

This is the latest in a series of purchases by First Derivatives which now employs around 1,000 people.

Brian Conlon, chief executive of First Derivatives, said the latest deal was "a low-risk, earnings-enhancing acquisition for the company".

He added that ActivateClients would provide "additional technology capabilities, particularly in HTML5, and its staff possess software development skills that will be useful across a range of projects".

Pat Brazel, who was chief executive of ActivateClients, now becomes global head of software sales at First Derivatives.

Last October, First Derivatives paid 拢36m for a majority stake in a US software firm.

Kx Systems, which is based in Palo Alto, California, makes high performance databases using a technology called kdb+.

Its customers include banks such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

First Derivatives already held a 20% share in the firm, but the deal took its holding to 65%.