Plantech sold to X Plan

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Insurance research company Plantech has been sold to a company which has just done a deal with the ASB-owned Aegis platform business.

Thursday, September 28th 2006, 7:01AM

by David Chaplin

In a deal that could extend its market presence in New Zealand, Xplan, the Australian financial advisory software firm, which just signed an agreement with the Aegis wrap, has purchased risk researcher PlanTech for A$15 million.

PlanTech, which has a significant client base in New Zealand and South Africa as well as Australia, will immediately replace the outsourced risk research module currently available on Xplan.

According to Andrew Walsh, Xplan managing director, the PlanTech deal will create efficiencies for its current users of its front-end financial advisory software.

“We are also keen to capitalise on the market presence that PlanTech has established in New Zealand and South Africa with our leading wealth management solution,” Walsh said in a statement.

Last week Xplan signed an agreement with the Sovereign-owned Aegis wrap to integrate its planning software in what was the first major foray of an Australian financial planning software provider into New Zealand.

However, rival software firm IWL has some New Zealand clients using its Visiplan software, most of whom it signed on after its purchase of the Boss Software insurance researcher firm in April for A$2 million.

Xplan is the last of Australia’s front-end software firms to tie in an insurance capability to its financial planning toolkit following IWL’s takeover of Boss and the move by the other major player in the field, the Macquarie-owned Coin, to develop its own insurance software module.

According to a statement released on Monday, both Xplan and PlanTech reported annual revenue of about A$8 million each. ASX-listed financial software company IRESS bought Xplan in 2003 for A$5 million following the collapse of an earlier attempt to purchase the IWL-owned Visiplan.

PlanTech principals, Tony Smith and Mark Young, will stay on to manage the business as it transfers from desktop delivery to a web-based system.

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