Thomson Financial, an operating unit of The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) and leading provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community, today announced the signing of an agreement with Estarta Solutions, an international IT solutions provider headquartered in Amman, Jordan, to provide sales and implementation support in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region for Thomson PORTIA, the investment industry's most comprehensive portfolio management systems.
Estarta Solutions, with offices in Amman, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Khobar and Riyadh, will make the powerful front to back office management tool for investment portfolios accessible to financial services firms throughout the MENA region. Thomson PORTIA automates the trading, analysis and operations of more than 300 money managers in 40 countries, managing more than ten trillion dollars in assets.
"This agreement comes as a continuation of a long relationship with Thomson Financial, and is in response to a growing demand in the region for a world-class investment management solution," said Mr. Majdi Al-Beit Shawish, Vice-President of Estarta Solutions.
Thomson Financial will join with Estarta to promote and implement Thomson PORTIA to MENA financial institutions, to provide a proven and trusted global transaction processing and accounting platform that offers flexible reporting, comprehensive support for all security types, full currency capabilities and superior performance measurement.
"The needs of MENA financial institutions for enterprise transaction processing and accounting are growing rapidly, as many firms in the regions expand the range of services and products they offer to their customers," said Christen Bremner, vice president, Corporate, Investment Banking and Investment Management, Thomson Financial. "We are excited to be working with Estarta, a well known and trusted provider in the local market. The combined assets and experience of Thomson PORTIA and Estarta will allow us to provide services and products that are second to none for financial institutions in the region," said Bremner.