US insurance giant Liberty Mutual has announced a £6.6 million (€9.73 million) investment in its Belfast software development subsidiary, Liberty Information Technology, which could create up to 175 jobs.
The investment is being supported by local development agency Invest NI, which will provide £1.75 million towards the expansion.
Liberty Information Technology, which currently employs 215 people in Belfast, is exclusively focused on providing application development and maintenance services to its US parent and its global subsidiaries.
"The parent company is very satisfied at how we have performed over the last 10 years," said William Hamilton, managing director of LIT.
Mr Hamilton said that the head-count expansion would occur at a measured pace.
The company has already hired a small number of new staff and realistically expects to grow to 350 staff.
"The IT [ labour] market is tight throughout Ireland, but we have plans to grow modestly and ensure we pick the right people," said Mr Hamilton.
"We are well respected locally and have not found it difficult to grow in the past."
This is the fourth investment Liberty has made in LIT since 1997.
Mr Hamilton said there were no plans currently to begin offering services to other firms, as Liberty still had significant needs for its services.
"They see us as doing high-value work and we have built up a lot of knowledge of their business," said Mr Hamilton.
He said the Invest NI funding would be used to expand the skills and capabilities within LIT in order that it could increase the range of services it offers its parent.
Headquartered in Boston, Liberty Mutual operates in Europe, Asia and Australia as well as in the US and employs over 39,000 staff.
Based on its 2006 revenues it is ranked 95 on the Fortune 500 list of largest US corporations.
Liberty is the sixth-largest property and casualty insurer in the US based on 2005 premiums.
LIT is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Mutual and was the first software development centre it established outside the US.
