Intuit Acquiring Galt, Pioneer Internet Fund Data Supplier

a pioneering Internet service provider that distributes mutual fund information to cyber-savvy investors. Menlo Park, Calif.-based Intuit said it would acquire privately held Galt Technologies Inc. in a stock swap of unspecified value. Company officials disclosed that revenues for Pittsburgh-based Galt would be less than $3 million this year. Galt's Internet service, called Networth, is one of the more popular stops on the sprawling computer network's multimedia subdivision known as the World Wide Web. Networth provides personal computer users the ability to download prospectuses, investment performance data, and other relevant information for over 65 mutual funds. It also offers Internet surfers 15-minute delayed quotes of stock and mutual fund prices as well as an on-line investment portfolio manager. Company officials said they plan to link Galt's Networth with Intuit's own World Wide Web site, called the Quicken Financial Network (QFN). Users of Intuit's latest version of its top-selling Quicken personal finance software will be able to access QFN at no cost. "This acquisition puts us a step closer to our goal of making QFN the leading Internet marketplace for a full range of financial products and services," said Bill Harris, executive vice president at Intuit. He added: "We aimed to make financial decision-making easier for our 10 million customers by combining the power of our software products such as Quicken with easy access to comprehensive, up-to-date financial information. In the process, we are also creating a new channel for financial institutions to communicate directly with their customers and prospects." "We are excited to be teaming up with Intuit to bring Quicken customers timely information to help them make smart investment decisions," said Robert Frasca, Galt's president and chief executive. "This merger is also great for the mutual fund companies who make information available through Galt's services, because it gives them access to Intuit's huge customer base." Intuit's acquisition of Galt will be structured as a pooling of interests for accounting purposes. Galt's management team, including Mr. Frasca, will remain with the firm after the deal closes, and Intuit intends to keep the acquired firm's offices in Pittsburgh, near Carnegie Mellon University's Software Engineering Institute. In other news affecting financial technology companies last week, payroll processor Ceridian Corp. said the Securities and Exchange Commission cleared its registration statement for its acquisition of Comdata Holdings Corp. In August, Ceridian announced it would acquire Nashville-based Comdata, a provider of electronic funds transfer services to the trucking and gaming industries, in a stock swap valued at $900 million. Shareholder meetings to approve the deal are scheduled for Dec. 12, company officials said. Separately, Alpine Associates said it has acquired a 5.59% stake in Comdata. Alpine, a Cresskill, N.J.-based broker-dealer whose sole general partner is Eckert Corp., said in an SEC filing that it now held 937,150 common shares of Comdata, purchased for a total of $22.9 million. The filing also noted Alpine purchased 689,000 Comdata shares between Sept. 14 and Nov. 3. at prices ranging from $23.1875 to 26.0625 a share. Comdata's common stock closed Friday at $24.625 a share, down 12.5 cents for the week. The Bisys Group Inc. announced that its Information Services division has signed a marketing agreement with Financial Management Solutions Inc. to provide a bank teller staff management system to Bisys's outsourcing clients. "As part of the Totalplus family of software service solutions, the Teller Management System compiles, analyzes and organizes the decision- support information necessary to maximize teller efficiency while improving existing levels of service to bank customers at the point-of-sale," said Paul Bourke, president and chief operating officer at Little Falls, N.J.- based Bisys. Mike Scott, president of Atlanta-based Financial Management Solutions, Inc., said the Teller Management System allows participating banks to match teller availability with customer service traffic patterns and transaction volumes. "The system generates schedules for full- and part-time tellers based on fluctuating transaction volumes, accurately determines unit labor costs per transaction, and compares bank-specific teller productivity and unit labor costs with those realized by other nationwide institutions," Mr. Scott said. Bisys's Nasdaq-traded common stock closed at $28.375 a share Friday, up 12.5 cents for the week.

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