HCL Technologies to acquire Switzerland-based Confinale for $54m

HCL Technologies said that its fully-owned subsidiary — HCL Technologies UK Limited, has agreed to acquire Confinale AG, a Swiss digital banking and wealth management consulting company.

The consideration for the acquisition is CHF 53 million (INR 41,242 crores or $54 million) in cash, which includes earn-outs.

Established in 2012, Confinale is engaged in IT consulting in the important specialist areas in the banking and wealth management sector.

The digital banking and wealth management consulting specialist is an Avaloq premium implementation partner.

Its main business is implementing wealth management solutions using Avaloq platform as well as proprietary add-on products.

Confinale is said to have a large pool of Avaloq-certified specialists and its in-house developed products and solutions are said to fast track the implementation of the Avaloq platform.

The digital banking and wealth management consulting company, which has offices in Switzerland, Germany, and the UK, is said to work with various banks and wealth advisors.

HCL Technologies to acquire Swiss digital banking and wealth management consulting company Confinale. Photo courtesy of Mohit Agarwal/Wikipedia.org.

Commenting on HCL acquisition of Confinale, Roland Staub — CEO of Confinale said: “Becoming part of HCL is an exciting new chapter for Confinale. We strongly believe in the need for banking expertise combined with software competence and HCL is the perfect fit for this. It is a truly global player with strong heritage in the financial services sector.

“HCL’s reach will enable us to further our growth and at the same time expose our team to new learning and innovation opportunities.”

According to HCL Technologies, the acquisition will help expand its presence in the global wealth management market with special focus on Avaloq consulting, implementation and management capabilities.

The intellectual assets that are a part of the acquisition are said to underpin the Indian IT firm’s strategy to build specialized vertical domain capabilities. Besides, they strengthen the position of HCL Technologies in end-to-end implementation and lifecycle management of the Avaloq platform.

The deal with Confinale also builds upon the Indian IT services firm’s recently expanded global collaboration with Avaloq and its acquisition of German IT consulting company gbs in association with apoBank last December. (Read here about HCL acquisition of gbs)

Rahul Singh — HCL Technologies Financial Services and Digital Process Operations President, commenting on HCL acquisition of Confinale, said: “There is significant disruption taking place in global wealth management and this means an opportunity for technology-led innovation.

“This acquisition significantly strengthens HCL’s digital wealth and asset management capabilities and expands our presence in the heart of the global investment banking sector. We welcome the team from Confinale and look forward to continuing to drive digital banking innovation alongside Avaloq.”

HCL acquisition of Confinale, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is likely to be wrapped up by July 2022.