GFT Technologies acquires Sophos Solutions from Advent International

By Gloria Methri

GFT Technologies has agreed to acquire 100% of shares in Colombia-based core banking expert Sophos Solutions from Advent International. With Sophos, GFT says it advances to one of the top IT services providers across Latin America and increases its global delivery capability.

GFT is gaining a new stronghold for core banking solutions, AI, and cloud modernisation, as well as additional partners and clients, which include Colombia’s most relevant financial institutions.

The company is increasing its presence to 20 countries, six of which are in Latin America: Brazil, Mexico and Costa Rica are now complemented by Colombia, Chile, and Panama.

The transaction is expected to be completed in early February 2024. In 2022, Sophos generated revenues of around 257 billion Colombian pesos (around €60 million) and GFT reported over €730 million worldwide.

“In this strategic acquisition, we are not just merging companies; we are multiplying potential,” said GFT CEO Marika Lulay. “It is a logical continuation of our successful strategy for growth and profitability. All aspects of Sophos are highly valuable to us. From the new colleagues, new competencies, and new clients to the new partners for core banking solutions, such as Oracle Flexcube. All this results in high traction for GFT in Latin America’s third-largest market Colombia, plus exponential growth scope in the Americas and beyond.”

Sophos is renowned for its core banking, AI, and cloud modernisation expertise, as well as innovation and digital transformation. GFT clients benefit from expanded delivery capacity and access to new expertise, including solutions for core banking with Sophos’ established partners. For Sophos’ clients, the acquisition means access to the additional large GFT talent pool, extensive experience in successfully implementing next-generation technology, more partners like Thought Machine, and pre-built solutions. All that combined translates into a shorter time to market and effective service delivery for all clients.

“We are proud to have partnered with the entire Sophos team during a time of significant growth for the company,” said Lucas Marulanda, Director at Advent International. “Since our investment in 2020, Sophos has strategically scaled its platform through international and regional expansion and continued to help drive significant technological transformation and modernisation across the financial industry. We look forward to following the company’s continued success.”

“For everyone at Sophos, it is a great opportunity to become part of GFT,” added Sophos CEO Felipe Villa. “I see a perfect fit with the combined expertise and global presence of Sophos and GFT. This will enable us to support our clients even better on their digital transformation journey – great news for our employees and their career development, as well as for our clients. We are grateful to Advent for taking our company to the next level.”