27 April 2004 London Bridge Software, one of the UK’s biggest software companies, is to be acquired by US analytics specialist Fair Isaac for £166 million ($300 million) in cash.

The two parties hope the acquisition will be completed in the third quarter of 2004.

London Bridge, which floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1997, specialises in debt collection and recovery software and systems for the financial services industry.

Its market value soared to around £2.5 billion at its 2000 peak.

Its chairman, Gordon Crawford, regarded as one of the UK’s technology pioneers, reportedly stands to make more than £76 million from the sale. Crawford will stay on in a consulting role for at least a year.

Nasdaq-listed Fair Isaac, which develops analytics technologies designed to reduce credit risk across a range of industries, including healthcare, retailing and telecommunications, says the deal will give it significant expertise in the financial sector.

The companies also hope that London Bridge’s customer base in Europe will complement Fair Isaac’s strong presence in the US.

“The acquisition of London Bridge fits clearly within Fair Isaac’s strategy of adding other mission-critical vertical applications to its existing portfolio of analytics applications and decision-management solutions,” said Tom Grudnowski, Fair Isaac’s CEO.

“Our businesses are highly complementary and we expect the acquisition to create benefits for both companies’ customers and employees.”