Raiffeisen is poised to buy out a technology venture it shares with Avaloq. The move severs ties between the banking software provider and the Swiss bank after a gargantuan tech migration.
Swiss lender Raiffeisen will buy out 49 percent of Arizon, an IT venture it shares with software firm Avaloq, the two companies said in a statement on Thursday. The decision comes after the software provider migrated 253 Raiffeisen banks onto its technology earlier this month.
The move is a surprise, since it reverses existing plans for the venture to eventually head for Avaloq. Instead, Raiffeisen has decided to keep the platform as groundwork for its own future digital projects. The deal fully ends years-long ties between the bank and the tech company, after Raiffeisen dumped its Avaloq stake 14 months ago.
Massive Tech Project
Raiffeisen will put aside 69 million Swiss francs ($69.3 million) this year for the transaction. The accrual is part of a total of 300 million francs the bank is writing off this year in review of the buying spree, largely under ex-CEO Pierin Vincenz.
The bank, which is in the midst of whittling stakes and shareholdings it accumulated in an acquisition spree in recent years, wants to fully integrate Arizon by mid-year. «We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Raiffeisen», Avaloq's Juerg Hunziker said.
The project had been dubbed the «mother of all tech projects» by Avaloq's private equity owner and was viewed as a key test towards the company's stock market listing.
