The acquisition has resulted in the addition of 17 employees and an established office in Luxembourg, and has taken Bravura's client base to more than 150 financial institutions globally - managed by over 600 staff in 14 offices around the world.

Mr Iain Dunstan, Bravura Group CEO and managing director said: "Bravura's integration with AB Prodata has run extremely well, with clients from both companies benefiting. AB Prodata brings additional specialist expertise and reach in markets such as continental Europe. Bravura's size and access to economies of scale allows for more cost-effective development of the flagship product, Babel Integrator ("Babel"), and improves current time-to-market. Our growth strategy is based on the acquisition of organisations that enhance our capabilities. The AB Prodata acquisition was undertaken as part of Bravura's planned approach to further expand our presence and foothold in the UK and continental European markets."

AB Prodata was founded in 1992 and is a major provider in the automated financial messaging market. Its flagship product, "Babel", increases communication automation directly with counterparties and via platforms. It is currently used by 12 major financial institutions in the UK and continental Europe, integrating with those institutions' own software platforms (including the Rufus GTA software business), to connect to a multitude of counterparties within many domestic and international markets.

Mr Phil Boland, AB Prodata CEO said: "We are delighted with how smoothly the integration with Bravura has occurred, although it is not surprising given the similarities between the two companies. Bravura and AB Prodata are both market leaders in their fields, have a focus and reputation for quality and customer service and are supported by a team of highly skilled staff. The combined group is now a principal supplier of products and services to the Investment Management industry in the UK and globally."

Babel is currently primarily provided on a perpetual licence plus maintenance basis. Bravura's intention is to evaluate extending this to an annual subscription plus transaction fee basis, available as a centrally hosted service. This would help make the software more accessible to smaller financial institutions and provide a very competitive variable cost model option to all subscribers.

Bravura last week finalised its acquisition of the Bank of New York EU/UK transfer agency software business, Rufus. Bravura plans to fully integrate AB Prodata with the Rufus business in Luxembourg in 2007.