March/April 2003

A supplier relationship management package called FINeDEAL has been launched in the UK by Finmatica, the Italian-based group that last year acquired Mercia, the demand and inventory planning software specialist.

The UK company is now called Finmatica Mercia, and its range will be progressively rebranded to reflect its new ownership, according to Mercia founder and business development manager Gareth Brentnall - although core product names will be retained.

The FINeDEAL system aims to manage the user's whole relationship with suppliers, from original sourcing through to procurement and supplier analysis.

Further acquisitions by Finmatica could follow, Brentnall told e.logistics Magazine. He points out that the new parent group only moved into the supply-chain business two years ago from banking and insurance, making it a matter of policy to acquire both businesses and customers in what it sees as a growth sector.

Already over a quarter of the group's 125 million euro turnover is made up of supply-chain systems, Brentnall points out, and it is Europe's number six software company by capitalisation.

www.finmatica.com