SunGard Data Systems Inc, the highly acquisitive disaster recovery firm that has bought its way into the financial software world with five acquisitions to date this year (CI No 3,258), has put its hand in its pocket once again, this time splashing out $313m in a stock swap for Infinity Financial Technology Inc. The purchase is the company’s biggest ever, and sees its investment support system market business storming ahead of its traditional disaster recovery interests. Infinity, with some 170 employees, develops and supports enterprise software systems for financial trading and risk management. Originally a competitor of SunGard, Infinity will continue to trade under the same name but as a SunGard company. SunGard says the disaster recovery business now accounts for only 30% of its business, compared to 60% in the investment support system arena, but it still regards disaster recovery as its most important business because it is one consolidated unit, whereas its financial business is made up of many smaller units. The company has just reported third quarter net profits of $22.8m on revenue up 27.8% to $214.5m, and says the Infinity acquisition, which forms part of its acquisition strategy, should contribute to 1998 earnings. The Wayne, Pennsylvania company says further acquisitions are likely.
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