[November 19, 2009] Insurance Software M&A Accelerating According to New Novarica Report Tweet NEW YORK --(Business Wire)-- Mitchell/SceneGenesis. InfoSys/McCamish. Ebix (News - Alert)/EZ-Data. iPipeline/AgencyWorks. And today, Sword Group/AgencyPort. News Flash: Insurance Software M&A is back. The latest research publication from independent research and advisory firm Novarica, Insurance Software M&A 2009Q4 Update, reports that with the market newly energized by a slew of recent transactions, plus the successful IPO of Verisk and the naming of Ebix to Fortune's "Hot Stock" list, financial and strategic acquirers are coming off the bench and are thinking again about buying new capabilities and customers. "In addition to traditional strategic and financial acquirers, we're starting to see smaller, publicly traded companies start to move more aggressively into this market," comments Novarica principal and study co-author Chad Hersh. While analyst estimates vary, the general consensus is that US insurers spend approximately $2-$4 billion or more on industry-specific software applications per year. However, unlike other industries where a technical monoculture has evolved the insurance software market is highly fragmented by company size, line of business, distribution model, and component solutions. "We expect the consolidation trend that has been slowly becoming the norm in fragmented portions of the market to accelerate as independent vendors look to compete with what is quickly becoming a growing group of mega-vendors." comments Novarica director and study co-author Matthew Josefowicz." Companies discussed in the report include: Accenture, CSC, CGI, Ebix, IBM, iPipeline, LexisNexis, Microsoft, Oracle (News - Alert), SAP, SunGard, Sword Group, SunGard, Tata, Vertafore, and others. The report is available for purchase at http://www.novarica.com/report_software_manda.shtml. Hersh and Josefowicz will discuss some of the report's findings in a webinar on Monday, November 30, at 12 pm EST. Interested attendees may register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/918114545. About Novarica Novarica provides information, insights, and perspective on markets, operations, and technology to financial services and insurance executives. The company delivers its service through published research, retained advisory services, and project-based consulting. Novarica's research includes market and trend analyses, best practices research, case studies, and independent analyses of insurance software vendors. Novarica draws its knowledge from the personal experience of its principals, the ongoing information gathering initiatives of dedicated research staff, and regular communication with insurer executives through informal networks and through the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council. More information is available at www.novarica.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]