German systems integrator and software developer Heyde AG has announced the acquisition of six small software houses, and, as a result, it predicts a 75% increase in revenues for 1999. Heyde, from Bad Nauheim also provides software and consultancy for wholesalers, consumer and capital goods manufacturers, banks and insurance companies. Three of the companies acquired (IDS Softwareentwicklungs und Softwarebetriebs AB, GISMA Gesellschaft fuer innovative Softwaremodule & Applikationen mbH and GISMA EDV System und Service mbH) are based in Coburg. GISMA served as the core developer for the Reuters Portfolio Management System. Another of the companies Heyde is buying, EDV-Studio Atzlinger, from Jever, specializes in PC-based customer care for banks. Its products will be sold both as part of Heyde’s Mentor suite of programs and as stand-alones. The fifth acquisition, MR Informatik GmbH, develops software specifically for the newspaper industry, while the sixth, KEOS Software GmbH, from Rodenbach bei Hanau, provides system management software for the MVS and AS/400 market. Heide is financing these acquisitions via an increase in its capital. Heyde began trading on the Neuer Markt in Frankfurt last September after a $22m initial public offering (CI No 3,495). As a result of these acquisitions, Heyde expects to report revenues of $76m this year, up 75% on the $46m it expects to post for 1998.
