First Derivatives completes acquisition of minority shareholdings in Kx Systems

First Derivatives plc (LON:FDP) has just announced the completion of the acquisition of the minority shareholdings in Kx Systems, in line with the terms announced in July 2018.

Completion of the transaction takes First Derivatives’s ownership of Kx Systems to 100% for consideration of $53.8 million in cash. The sum has been paid from FD’s available facilities.

Brian Conlon, Chief Executive Officer of FD, commented:

“Since we acquired a controlling stake in Kx Systems in October 2014 we have invested heavily to deliver the performance advantages of our combined solutions, branded as Kx technology, to a range of end-markets. We are making exciting progress as we demonstrate our ability to transform our customers’ operational performance by unlocking the value in their data. Full ownership of Kx Systems is an important milestone as we continue to commercialise our technology.”

Back in July 2018, First Derivatives said it had agreed to acquire the remaining 600,022 Kx Systems shares that it did not already own from the minority shareholders, namely Arthur Whitney and Janet Lustgarten, who are co-founders and current directors of Kx Systems, and their associated persons.

FD’s proprietary Kx technology captures and analyses vast quantities of data, both real-time and historic. Kx comprises the kdb+ database and an enterprise layer providing vital functions such as control and visualisation. Together they provide a platform that enables organisations to meet various data challenges they face, with an efficient design. These core capabilities, along with the capacity to operate on the chip, edge or cloud delivers a compelling solution for FD’s clients. The software has been deployed for edge computing to public environments such as AWS, Azure and the Google cloud.