Tech veterans reap reward from Similarity sale

Irish software company Similarity Systems has been sold for €45.4 million ($55 million) to Nasdaq-quoted Informatica, with a trio of Irish technology veterans among the main beneficiaries.

Founders Garry Moroney and Brian Caulfield, who along with Delta Partners account for around 65 per cent of the company's stock according to the most recent returns available at the Companies Office, will receive around €7 million and €6 million respectively for their stakes in the data quality group. Delta can expect a payout of around €17 million.

Chairman Jim Mountjoy, a co-founder and former managing director of Baltimore Technologies, will net around €1.75 million for his 3.8 per cent stake.

Mr Moroney, who is chief executive of Similarity, worked previously in the US with management consultants McKinsey and oilfield services provider Schlumberger, while Mr Caulfield made his name with another technology firm Exceptis, formerly known as Peregrine Systems, which he sold to listed group Trintech for €31 million in 2000.

Although Mr Caulfield never held an executive position with Similarity, it is understood he was very involved with company strategy and worked on the development of the technology on which the firm was based.

He also has a number of other interests and is a director of Aepona, the Belfast telecoms software firm which last year completed a funding round of €15.25 million for expansion into the US and Asia.

Mr Moroney said yesterday that Similarity's team was "very happy with what we have achieved over the last five years and are also looking forward to the future".

The company was founded in 2001 and provides software that enables data in corporate databases to be checked for quality and repaired if required. It employs just over 70 people and has offices in Dublin, the US, Britain and Germany.

According to accounts filed with the Companies Office, Similarity Systems had assets of €1.01 million at the end of 2004, down from €1.56 million at the end of 2003.

It is understood that about half the company's business is in the US.

Mr Moroney said that Similarity would now become the data quality division of Informatica.

In a statement, Informatica said it expected the deal to contribute to earnings by the fourth quarter of this year.

Mr Moroney said the two firms had worked on a number of projects together over the years and also had a number of customers and partners in common. Similarity customers include Bank of America, ABN Amro, Nestlé, Esso and Vodafone. Irish users of its software include Bank of Ireland, the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Garda Síochána.

Informatica, which this week reported 2005 revenues of $267.4 million and net income of $33.8 million, is a leader in the area of enterprise data integration software and services.

Similarity's data quality products are considered highly complementary as they will enable customers to cleanse their data before embarking on data integration projects.