Bath-based financial services technology provider Altus has been sold to Canadian software company Equisoft for an undisclosed sum. 

Equisoft was set up in 1994 and provides insurance and investment technology solutions to 75 companies around the world. 

Equisoft products include Financial Planning software, policy administration solutions, CRM, financial needs analysis and solutions covering asset allocation and fund and portfolio analysis. The firm has 600 staff in the USA, Canada, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, India and Australia. 

Altus was founded in 2005 with the aim of speeding up financial services through technology. It provides a range of consultancy services and automation software to 150 clients in the investment, pensions, insurance and wealth management sectors. It employs 90 people. 

Altus is the first European acquisition for Equisoft which plans to maintain Altus's current operations and services and to invest in the firm.  

Altus managing director Kevin Okell said: “The more we found out about Equisoft, the more we felt this would be a perfect marriage of two technology firms with the same shared vision, both with highly specialised solutions and proven expertise; to transform financial services with quality digital solutions and then share the benefits across clients, staff and our communities. 

“Given our substantial recent investment in Finscape, Altus was particularly keen to find a partner who understood the enormous potential of this initiative and the critical importance of the role it could play in the investment value chain. I am delighted to report that Equisoft grasped this immediately and has committed to substantial further investments in the product and to expanding its geographic coverage.”

Equisoft CEO Luis Romero said: “As we were searching for the right UK business partner, it was immediately clear that Altus is an incredibly good match both in terms of proposition and values. With strong advocacy from a blue-chip client base, striking industry profile and a warm family ethos, Altus seemed like the ideal hub from which to expand our European presence.”