Wynyard buys UK-based MHA Gateway service after Friday listing

Tuesday 23rd July 2013

Wynyard Group, which raised $65 million as part of its NZX listing on Friday, has bought UK-based MHA Gateway's anti-financial crime service for an undisclosed sum.

The intelligence software developer bought the intellectual property, customer contracts and exclusive rights to the gateway service from MHA Compliance and Training, a 20-year-old, Surrey-based firm whose suite of tools are used in the financial crime consulting industry. The acquisition is part of Wynyard's growth plans after it reaped $25.8 million from the recent capital raising.

"Securing the MHA Gateway service, customer base and IP forms an integral part of Wynyard's wider financial crime and anti-money laundering offering," chief operating officer Paul Stokes said in a statement. "This acquisition is part of our ongoing commitment to helping businesses involved in financial activities, fight money laundering, counter the funding of terrorism and comply with changing regulation."

The gateway service seeks to aid firms in meeting their legal and regulatory financial crime obligations, according to the MHA website.

Wynyard software is in use by the London Metropolitan Police and the New Zealand and Australian police forces, global banks and corporations, and is making inroads into the huge US market, where its products have impressed the Department of Homeland Security.

The company has a strategic relationship with US defence contractor Northrop Grumman and has been signalling since last year it was planning a great leap forward strategy into the US in 2013 and 2014.

Wynyard shares rose 0.9 percent to $1.09 today, having listed at $1.15 on Friday.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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