04 Nov 2020Jürg Hunziker

Avaloq’s Future as Part of NEC

On October 5, we announced the acquisition of Avaloq by NEC Corporation, who will acquire 100% of Avaloq shares from existing shareholders. With over 120 years of expertise, NEC is a recognized leader in the integration of IT and network technologies that benefit individuals and businesses around the world.

Since the announcement, I have spoken to many of our clients and partners and am very happy to discover that they are just as pleased with this development as I and my fellow members of the Group Executive Board are. Although the acquisition has yet to be processed and is expected to be completed in Q1 2021, I look forward to being able to share with you some of the key points in our plans for future growth and innovation with NEC.

First and foremost, I would like to stress that NEC has acquired Avaloq because they are as convinced as we are in our potential – in our innovation, our technology, our products and services, our markets and clients, and our fellow Avaloq colleagues. They invested in Avaloq as a growth opportunity to outperform our competitors in the space of Wealth Management and Banking globally. With that in mind, NEC has also emphasized the importance of having Avaloq’s current management team continue their work, in order to ensure continuity and stability.

While Avaloq will continue to operate as its own entity, headquartered in Switzerland, we are very much looking forward to our close collaboration with NEC and its various regional subsidiaries around the world. It is important to recognize that NEC expects us to be agile and swift in responding to changing market demand. In addition to its home market of Japan, NEC has a presence in 50 countries, including the Nordics, India, and the Middle East, providing us with the potential to expand Avaloq’s reach as we continue to develop even better solutions for our clients in the future.

The sale of Avaloq generated much interest and we truly believe that NEC is the best partner for our business. Our solutions will only evolve for the better when leveraging NEC’s proven expertise with technologies related to Digital Identity Verification, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, and Biometrics and our innovation capabilities are sure to be elevated with NEC’s strong commitment to Research & Development, evidenced by the resources it has placed towards this, including dedicated facilities in Heidelberg, Germany.

The whole Group Executive Board at Avaloq remains committed to driving forward our growth story and we are very glad to have a strong partner on our side who supports our long-term vision and offers us continuity, stability and an exciting future of accelerated growth in new markets. With NEC, Avaloq found a perfect new home to continue our success story of serving our clients with solutions that make their lives simpler in an ever more complex world.

Written by Jürg Hunziker
Jürg joined Avaloq in 2016 and assumed the CEO role from 2018-2021. Before this, he set up and then ran Sungard’s European division and was responsible for launching a number of capital market solutions. Armed with 30 years of experience in developing financial technology companies, he transformed Avaloq from a founder-driven firm to a mature, scalable business. His efforts culminated in Avaloq’s acquisition by NEC at the end of 2020.
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