Plenitude has announced the acquisition of Contineo Financial Risk Solutions Ltd. Contineo is a niche software vendor that also provides professional services to help organisations fight financial crime intelligently and proactively.
This is the first acquisition by Plenitude since Growth Capital Partners made a strategic investment in the financial crime, risk and compliance (FCC) specialist in 2022. That investment was made to extend Plenitude’s capabilities and assist with global expansion.
Founded in 2017, Contineo offers software solutions and has clients across the UK, the US, Europe and UAE. Its three solutions are:
- InteliList: A suite of modules that allows consumers to take control of their watchlist management process.
- FinResolve: A specialist solution for FinCrime investigations that provides a data-rich and user-friendly environment for investigators and reporting that could significantly reduce potential risk exposure.
- FCGuard: An end-to-end ‘FCC in a box’ solution that provides next-generation technology for maintaining highly effective FCC defences without incurring high operational costs.
Contineo also offers advisory services, including tuning and optimisation, Fincrime validation, health checks to ensure alignment with legislation and regulatory obligations, regulatory support and services to deploy and support the Contineo technology solutions.
Alan Paterson, Founder & CEO at Plenitude, said, “Contineo’s reputation and deep technical advisory capability is impressive. The decision to bring the businesses together felt absolutely right from a strategic standpoint. Enabling us to meet the evolving needs of our clients and accelerating the build out of our tech advisory and data analytics practice.
“Plenitude has grown organically over the last 12 years, and we always wanted to ensure that any company joining the Plenitude journey had a brilliant culture and reputation for first class delivery. We look forward to welcoming all of the Contineo team.”
Plenitude grows by a fifth
The acquisition will bring all of Contineo’s employees across to Plenitude, growing it by around 20%. It is unclear what roles the Contineo leadership team will have within Plenitude going forward.
Munir Merchant, Founder & CEO at Contineo, commented, “On behalf of the Contineo team we are delighted to be joining forces with Alan, Asad and the rest of the Plenitude team, and excited about the opportunities ahead. Contineo and Plenitude have similar beginnings, a common culture, and complementary advisory capabilities which made joining forces a very compelling proposition. Plenitude’s growth story is impressive, they have a fantastic reputation and we are excited to leverage all of the benefits that come from the wider group and capabilities they offer.
“We are looking forward to delivering on the ambition to be the leading specialist tech advisor and implementation partner for innovative AI-enabled FCC technology solutions.”
The acquisition is a significant step forward for Plenitude’s growth ambitions. It extends Plenitude’s technology solutions, which already include CompassSight, RegSight, and ClientSight. Contineo brings AI-enabled FCC technology solutions, machine learning expertise, and cutting-edge analytics into its portfolio. The announcement said little about the product roadmap that may follow.
The acquisition is fully supported by its investors. Jay Salter, Investment Director at Growth Capital Partners, commented. “I’m delighted to see Contineo joining forces with us at Plenitude and believe this is a highly strategic acquisition and an outstanding opportunity for growth. Contineo’s specialist technology-led advisory skills perfectly complement Plenitude’s subject matter expertise and transformation services to deliver highly valuable business outcomes for a client base with ever-growing FCC needs. We look forward to working closely with Munir and the team to continue Plenitude’s growth journey.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
A significant investment by Plenitude that some will say has been some time in coming. Taking two years to make its first investment is a substantial length of time. However, in Contineo, Plenitude seems to have found a company and team that should dovetail neatly into its portfolio of technology and services. Both are headquartered in London, and it should mean it is able to retain most of the staff.
With no terms disclosed and no announcement about the future of the Contineo leadership or a technology roadmap, there are still many questions for employees and customers that need answering, though.
