Ideagen acquires SR&CR compliance platform Redland in £15.8m deal

GRC software management company Ideagen has acquired Redland Business Solutions, a provider of regulatory and compliance software, in a £15.8m deal.

In joining Ideagen, clients of Redland will have greater access to governance, risk and compliance solutions.

Redland currently has a revenue of around £4.2m, of which, £3m is recurring. It has 40 clients it will bring to Ideagen including Nomura, Santander, Investec, Hargreaves Lansdown and Rathbones.

The RegTech startup offers accountability and compliance solutions for SM&CR. Its platform is people-centric application which fits seamlessly in with an organisation’s existing infrastructure. Through this a user can understand everybody’s role within a business, their responsibilities and reporting lines, making it easy to identify and highlight any transactions which need monitoring or checking. It also alerts businesses to any employee that needs development to stay on track or even anyone which needs additional coaching in their position.

SM&CR was first introduced to the UK in 2016 by the Financial Conduct Authority. It encourages staff of all levels to take responsibility for their actions and ensure a firm can demonstrate where responsibility and accountability lies.

Through the acquisition, Ideagen will gain access to tools for internal audit, risk management, certification and SM&CR compliance.

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.”

As part of the deal, Redland executive chairman Joel Turland and CEO Gary Muchmore will step down from their positions.

Turland 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.”

Ideagen is a governance, risk and compliance platform which offers firsms a range of solutions to meet compliance needs. Its services include BRC compliance, CAPA management, document management, FDA and MHRA compliance, audits, risk management, and much more.

In a recent interview with RegTech Analyst, Redland co-founder Carl Redfern said financial institutions initially underestimated SM&CR but are beginning to realise its profound impact and the level of change it requires.