Source: GlobeOp Financial Services
GlobeOp Financial Services (GlobeOp; LSE:GO.), a leading independent provider of business process outsourcing, financial technology services and analytics to the buy-side, today announced that it is investing $10.5 million to acquire and enhance a facility in Yorktown Heights, New York.
The facility will provide additional office and data center capacity to support future business growth. The acquisition is scheduled to close later this month.
The 80,000 square foot (7,400 square meter) facility is located in Westchester County, approximately 40 miles from Manhattan, where one of GlobeOp's two global headquarters is located.
In addition to the initial $5.5 million facility acquisition, GlobeOp anticipates a further investment of approximately $5 million in facility infrastructure and equipment improvements. The facility purchase and subsequent capital expenditures will be funded from existing cash. Expected to be operational in early 2009, the Yorktown Heights facility will enable the company to accommodate future technology infrastructure and service expansion. It will also further strengthen the reliability and robustness of existing business systems, as it will source power from a different utility company and separate power grid than is used at the company's Harrison, NY facility.
"Investing for the future is essential," said Hans Hufschmid, GlobeOp chief executive officer. "We continuously invest globally in people and infrastructure, reflecting steady growth in client trading volumes and demand for diverse product offerings. Acquiring the additional capacity in Yorktown Heights reflects our ongoing review of client service requirements, our business growth strategy, and our operational needs. It is also consistent with GlobeOp's strategy of balancing future growth with strong profitability.
"GlobeOp's technology platform today represents more than 500 man-years of development. As we continue to grow the business, we will need to expand both technology infrastructure and related data services. The Yorktown Heights facility will better enable us to strategically plan and physically accommodate future product and service innovations."
Vernon Barback, GlobeOp president and chief operating officer, added that the Yorktown Heightss facility also supports the company's goals of retaining its highly skilled professional workforce and of being an employer of choice in the areas in which it operates.
"Recent expansion of our technology infrastructure and business recovery systems in Harrison has reduced office space for the approximately 175 client service and IT development professionals based there. The Yorktown Heights facility will enable us to relocate a portion of our Harrison employees in 2009 and provide greater flexibility in future recruitment."