Press release

Coexis to be acquired by Australian GBST

London 5 November 2008 — As part of its continuing expansion plans, global provider of software for the securities industry, Coexis has announced that it is in the process of finalising its acquisition by GBST (ASX:GBT) a leading Australian provider of securities transaction and fund administration software for the financial services industry.

GBST, quoted on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is Australia’s leading provider of broking software, as well as offering solutions for securities clearing, futures and options processing and wealth management which are complementary to Coexis Syn~® solutions. The company has a strong reputation in the marketplace and is seeking global expansion and to broaden its portfolio of products and services.

GBST’s securities transaction processing and client accounting software is used by market participants to process approximately A$130 billion of ASX trades every month and its fund administration software is used to administer funds valued at more than A$150 billion in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Sunil Shah, chief executive officer of Coexis said: “Coexis’ Syn~ technology and solutions are unique in offering a globally available, model-based approach to software development, which resolves the fundamental problem caused by technology obsolescence that usually confronts every solutions’ user and provider. Our Syn~ technology will provide GBST with a modern, flexible and scalable solution for modelling business processes and bringing future products to market far more rapidly than traditional methods. This deal would significantly increase GBST’s global reach and expansion via Coexis’ existing international customers, prospects and distribution channels.”

In addition to the Syn~ development technology, GBST would gain immediate access to Syn~ solutions for multi-site, middle and back office securities processing, enterprise-wide reference data management, corporate actions, multi-exchange and multi-CSD (Central Securities Depository). Similarly GBST’s products would be available to Coexis customers and prospects.

GBST chief executive officer Stephen Lake said: “This acquisition would further extend the suite of products and services immediately available through GBST’s Broker Services division and significantly expand the scale of GBST’s global operations. GBST recognises the need for further scale in its operations across a broader range of customers. The acquisition of Coexis has the potential to substantially meet this need as well as extend our global reach.”

Recently in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league of fastest growing UK technology businesses, Coexis was ranked 92. The company achieved a 40.08% CAGR on revenues over three years and was the only software provider to the financial services market to feature in the table.

In Gartner’s recently published MarketScope for Securities Processing Systems research, which reviewed systems and vendors in this market space, no other vendor, including the largest, ranked higher than Coexis. Syn~ was awarded a “positive” judgement. Syn~’s componentised configurability, full multi-currency, third generation software engineering and absence of legacy architecture were among the strengths highlighted in the report. The combining of GBST and Coexis significantly overcomes Gartner’s potential worry that company size could limit support, as the client base expands.

The existing clients of Coexis have already deployed Syn~ solutions globally for multi-site, middle and back office securities processing, enterprise-wide reference data management, multi-exchange and multi-CSDs.

Coexis operates in multiple locations including London, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and Paris where a number of new major investment banks and broker clients are currently implementing Syn~ solutions. A key strategy is to continue to work with and expand Coexis’s established partners such as Serisys Solutions Limited in Asia as well as correspondent clearers providing white labelled services to brokers.

GBST will work closely with Coexis’ senior management team, led by chairman Terry Williams and chief executive officer Sunil Shah to exploit growth opportunities within the securities industry and move into new functional and geographical markets. Prior to joining Coexis in 2002, both Terry, the original founder of Wilco, and Sunil were directly responsible for the global expansion of ADP Wilco. The senior management team at Coexis, both in the UK and USA, has a proven history and experience of building significant market share by delivering brokerage solutions on a global scale.

Coexis chief executive officer Sunil Shah said: “This is a win, win situation for GBST, Coexis, and all our customers and partners. We are excited by the opportunities of joining GBST, which has a strong reputation in the marketplace and extending the benefits of our complementary products to an enlarged customer and prospect base. Together, we expect to become a more formidable organisation with a broader range of solutions – for both the retail and investment banking sectors as well as wealth management. We would have greater critical mass and the momentum necessary to expand further on a global scale.”

About GBST www.gbst.com
GBST is a leading provider of securities transaction and fund administration software for the financial services industry. GBST builds, owns and manages software products and provides support for our customers who use these products. We are focused on earning our revenue from the financial services sector. The aim is to use technology applications to earn recurring revenue from areas such as transactions processing, reporting, account management, books and records, data and content.

GBST Broker Services division is Australia’s leading provider of client accounting and securities transaction technology. Capital market participants such as banks, clearing houses, custodians, fund managers, margin lenders and institutional and retail stockbrokers use GBST’s specialist market access and transaction solutions to process approximately $130 billion of ASX trades every month.

GBST doubled in size in August 2007 with the purchase of InfoComp, a leading specialist provider of wealth management software. GBST Wealth Management division is now the leading provider of funds administration and registry software to the Australian wealth management industry. It offers an integrated system for the administration of wrap platforms, master trusts, superannuation, pensions, risk and debt. GBST’s wealth management software administers funds valued at more than $150 billion in Australia and the United Kingdom.

About Syn~ and Coexis www.syn.com

Coexis, the creator of Syn~ ®, provides next generation software technology and applications which meet the dynamic business needs of the global securities industry. Syn~ is built using current state-of-the-art technology and engineered specifically to solve the market need to process exceptionally high volumes. With their unique model-based and application lifecycle approach, Syn~ solutions allow organisations to re-engineer and automate business processes and provide the perfect alternative to high cost bespoke solutions or rigid off-the-shelf packages. They cover middle and back office securities processing, enterprise-wide reference data management, multi-exchange and multi-CSD (Central Securities Depository).

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Press contact:

Salli Roskilly
Saffron Communications Limited
T: +44 (0)1763 208708
E: salli(at)saffroncoms.com

Further information from:

Sunil Shah, chief executive officer.
Coexis Limited, 1 High Street, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 1ET, UK
T: +44 (0)1923 726800 
E: sunil.shah(at)coexis.com

Roy Staines, managing director US operations
Coexis Inc, 75 Broad Street, New York NY 10004, USA 
T: +1 646 649 9380
E: roy.staines(at)coexis.com


 
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