Southampton, UK-based transaction processing software house Gresham Computing Plc has found something on which to spend its 4m pound cash pile, and has announced the acquisition of London based financial services firm CirCa Business Systems Ltd and its associated businesses, including overseas operations. CirCa specializes in financial banking applications such as Atlas and Swift, and its CirCa User Interface product enables standard client systems to access proprietary systems from Tandem Computer Corp hardware extensively used within the financial sector. Gresham plans to integrate the tool with its own its Casablanca web gateway product (CI No 3,093) designed to allow companies to web enable legacy systems. The company says it expects to roll out a new integrated version of Casablanca early in the new year. Circa’s overseas operation will also help Gresham develop an international presence. Director of corporate marketing Mike Hudgell says that Gresham intendes to focus in on transaction processing applications on the web and business to business commerce, and is looking for other complementary acquisitions either on the technology or financial services side. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but are promised shortly along with the revised management structure. Gresham says it will continue to look for acquisition opportunities.
