INET BFA takes the IRESS brand following acquisition

IRESS has announced that INET BFA will take on the IRESS brand with effect from 1 March 2017, positioning INET BFA as one of the pillars of IRESS ’s suite of integrated market data, trading, portfolio and wealth management solutions. This marks a key milestone in the integration of INET BFA into IRESS’S operations in South Africa.

IRESS, an Australian-headquartered supplier of solutions to the financial markets, wealth management, and mortgage sectors, acquired INET BFA in September 2016 for R150 million to add the company’s market data to its product suite and provide an expanded offering to its clients. The acquisition of INET BFA followed IRESS’Ss purchases of Spotlight in 2007 and Peresys in 2011, boosting its presence in South Africa.

IRESS was founded in 1993 and in addition to offices in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town IRESS has extensive operations in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Canada.

The acquisition of INET BFA enables IRESS to provide scale to clients in South Africa as it builds on its existing operations and strives to offer locally relevant, unified data and financial technology solutions. As an established long-term provider in South Africa, IRESS is investing in bringing more of its world-class technology to the country, creating solutions for local needs and supporting South African clients with a strong on-the-ground team.

Ray Pretorius, MD of IRESS in South Africa, said: “Bringing together everything our clients need in a single, integrated platform is a major focus for IRESS in South Africa. Over the past few years, we have enhanced our unified financial technology solutions with local capabilities from acquisitions such as Peresys (trading terminals), Spotlight (financial planning software) and INET BFA (market data, analysis tools and financial data feeds).

“We have brought these companies together into a single South African business that offers a unified solution to the market. By rebranding INET BFA, we will grow awareness of the depth of the IRESS portfolio in the local market.”

Changing INET BFA’s name also better reflects how we can offer INET BFA clients in South Africa access to our global solutions.