Bromsgrove tech business acquired by Ideagen

Published by

Nicky Godding

Bromsgrove-based Redland Business Solutions Ltd, has been acquired by Ideagen plc for £15.8 million.

Redland Business Solutions (‘Redland’) is a RegTech software-as-a-service (SaaS) company which supplies regulatory and compliance software to the financial services industry.

Ideagen is an information management, safety, risk and compliance software solutions. It provides software and services to organisations operating within highly regulated industries such as aviation, banking and finance, life science, healthcare and manufacturing. Headquartered in Nottingham, and with clients across the world, Ideagen also has satellite offices across the UK, including one in Malmesbury, North Wiltshire.

Redland's leading software platform, ‘Insight’, provides banks, investment managers, asset managers and insurance companies with solutions that underpin the Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SM&CR) and individual employee competency.

Redland currently generates revenue of circa £4.2 million – of which around £3 million is recurring. The company brings more than 40 clients to the Ideagen Group, including, 7 FTSE 100 and 2 Fortune 500 companies. Clients include Nomura, Santander, Investec, Hargreaves Lansdown and Rathbones.

Ideagen CEO, Ben Dorks, said: “Redland is a high growth, successful and profitable software company which will significantly strengthen our audit and risk business unit. It is a single product, brand rich organisation which cements our position in the financial services vertical and, at the same time, falls in line with our key business strategy of migrating to a SaaS business.

“This acquisition enhances Ideagen’s financial services domain knowledge and provides us with ‘first mover’ advantage in relation to SM&CR compliance and in the general regulatory evolution of the financial services industry.”

David Hornsby, Executive Chairman of Ideagen, said: “Redland is an extremely valuable addition to the Group and is in line with our strategy of acquiring Integrated Risk Management businesses that have strong intellectual property (IP) and growing recurring revenues.

“Financial services is an important vertical market for Ideagen and the combination of Redland’s Insight platform with Ideagen’s Pentana will provide a compelling proposition covering internal audit, risk management, certification and SM&CR compliance.”

SM&CR is a ‘root and branch’ review of the standards of accountability for each relevant staff member within every Financial Conduct Authority regulated firm.

It took effect for banks, building societies, credit unions and dual-regulated (FCA and PRA regulated) investment businesses in March 2016 and rolls out to all other FCA regulated firms on 9th December, 2019, replacing the Approved Persons Regime.

Joel Turland, Executive Chairman at Redland, who – alongside current CEO Gary Muchmore – will step down from his position following the acquisition, said: “We are delighted that Redland will be joining the Ideagen Group, which truly is a global organisation in the governance, risk and compliance software space. With thousands of clients globally, Ideagen will be able to introduce our Insight product to a range of new clients.

“Ideagen is not just acquiring an outstanding product in the form of our ‘Insight’ solution, but is also gaining a superb team with exceptional industry domain knowledge which successfully develops, markets, sells and supports it across the UK.

“I am looking forward to seeing ‘Insight’ and the wider Redland team going from strength to strength with the expanded reach and opportunities available via Ideagen.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.