Bank software and systems consulting firm Broadway Seymour Inc. announced last week that it has reached an agreement to acquire Micro Resources Inc., a developer of commercial lending software.
Officials at Charlotte, N.C.-based Broadway Seymour said they would buy Micro Resources in exchange for Broadway Seymour common stock. They did not release an exact purchase value, but noted that the multimillion-dollar transaction would be a pooling of assets, and is expected to be finalized by the end of this month.
"This acquisition provides new application software products to offer to the financial services market, particularly bank commercial loan departments," said Broadway & Seymour chief executive officer William Neal. "Opportunities also exist to incorporate Broadway & Seymour's systems integration and consulting expertise into [Micro Resources'] offerings since an increasing number of financial institutions are reengineering their commercial loan departments."
Larkspur, Calif.-based Micro Resources, founded in 1984, was one of the first firms to develop personal computer-based software to aid commercial lenders.
The software, called Commercial Relationship Information Systems Program, or Crisp, is currently installed at about 75 banks, said Anthony Gaas, Micro Resources' chief executive. Current users of Crisp include Nations-Bank Corp., First Union Corp., Norwest Corp., and Keycorp.
Bill Seymour, vice chairman of Broadway & Seymour, noted that the acquisition fits into his company's strategy of looking to acquire banking technology companies in selected areas "and going after the best player in that niche."
He added that while Broadway & Seymour has done commercial lending software development work in the past, he expects acquisition to provide a boost to its consulting services.
"Commercial lending is the heart of banking," Mr. Seymour said. "Crisp has a profitability component as well as dealing with client relationships, functions which are absolutely mainstream in banking these days, and someplace we ought to be."
Mr. Gaas said joining up with Broadway & Seymour will provide more opportunities to customize Crisp for individual banks' needs. "We've always been strong in development, so this strengthens our software support," he added.
