SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) and SunGard announced the planned acquisition by SWIFT of the assets of SunGard’s Ambit Messaging Hub (AMH) solution for high-volume financial messaging. The transaction, which is subject to a number of closing conditions that are expected to be fulfilled by the end of the quarter, strengthens the relationship between the two companies as SunGard’s AvantGard Ecosystem Communication Hub (Echos) for corporate-to-bank messaging is based on the AMH technology. The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, is not expected to have a material impact on SunGard’s results.

The acquisition extends SWIFT’s connectivity portfolio as Ambit Messaging Hub is a modular, multi-network, high-volume financial messaging solution that can be tailored to an individual customer’s needs with associated services. The solution will be marketed by SWIFT as AMH (Advanced Messaging Hub). SWIFT is already firmly established as a recognised supplier of interfaces for low, medium and high volumes with its Alliance product suite. The Alliance portfolio will continue to be sold, enhanced, maintained and supported

SunGard will continue to support its MINT messaging solution, the predecessor solution to Ambit Messaging Hub. Customers using SunGard’s MINT solution for messaging will be able to work with SunGard and SWIFT to migrate to AMH.

The management and staff of SunGard’s Ambit Messaging Hub product line (approximately 20 employees) will transfer to a newly set-up SWIFT subsidiary as part of the deal and will be based in Mechelen (Belgium), Frankfurt (Germany) and Zurich (Switzerland). The subsidiary will be led by Hans Cobben, who has been heading the group within SunGard.

“We are delighted to welcome the AMH team into the SWIFT family – they have done a great job at building a business with real growth potential,” commented Lázaro Campos, CEO of SWIFT. “AMH is an excellent addition to our existing interface portfolio. It is also a demonstration of how SWIFT is evolving its strategy and business model, building on its core competencies and underpinned by the right technology solutions. It is consistent with our SWIFT2015 strategy and has the firm backing of the Board.”

Ken Dummitt, President of SunGard’s AvantGard business unit, said, “This agreement strengthens the relationship between SWIFT and SunGard. It brings together a combined network of more than 9,400 financial institutions and 2,500 corporations. For SunGard’s corporate customers, it means they will have a single point of connectivity to their bank partners via SunGard’s AvantGard Ecosystem Communication Hub (Echos), a messaging platform that shares the same underlying technology as SWIFT’s AMH. Moving forward, SunGard will focus on corporate-to-bank connectivity and corporate-to-corporate connectivity.”