OK, as the title suggests, I thought of capturing the analyst sentiment of FundTech before the acquisition of Accountis. So without further ado, here is a snapshot of analysis from three firms in Jan 2008:

D A Davidson & Co

BUY. Price on 9th Jan $10.60. Price Targets: 12 to 18 months $18, 5 year $40

Verdict: Target market volatility warrants some cautiousness, but risk/reward better than ever. Lowering estimates, maintaining BUY rating.

My Analysis of Analyst: Does not indicate compelling understanding of business proposition. Analysis purely on the back of financials both past and forecasts.

Wedbush Morgan Securities

BUY. Price $10.57 on 16th Jan. Price Targets: 12 months $14.50

Verdict: Downside analysis shows more resiliency than shares have shown; reducing estimates and target but reiterating BUY

My Analysis of Analyst: Mainly on financials but take the trouble to comment on the US economy and the resilience of products to a US economic downturn. No speculation or comments on strategy or growth.

PriceTarget Research

NEUTRAL: Price $10.96 on 27th Jan.

Verdict: Relative to the S&P500 composite, has both growth and value characteristics. Its appeal is likely to be to Capital Gain oriented investors. FundTech is of low investment quality.

My Analysis of Analyst: Quite a lot of information to digest. Need to get some sleep!

Craig-Hallum

BUY. Price $10.87 on 29th Jan. Price Targets: $18

Verdict: SEPA is here. Lowering price target.

My Analysis of Analyst: Obviously published after a key event and therefore carries lot more information than the other 3 analysts in terms of market and economic outlook. Too sleepy to do much more reading

I wish I had more time to go into detail and absorb what the analysts were saying. Above is just to capture some essence of the the conversation taking place. This reminds me of my MBA days when I used to read analyst reports on regular basis. Perhaps, its time to brush up! Good night!

PS: I will revisit these analysts later this month to capture their thoughts! Now wouldn’t it be great if these reports can be found on edocr.

Whilst I cannot take any credit for the deal between FundTech and Accountis, I feel exhilarated at the service this blog provided in above acquisition. Here are some clues:

• OB10 #8 – Ready to be acquired!
• James Governor # 1 – Learning from a Pro

I actually thought there was a blog post giving more clues, but perhaps not! I believe it all started at a pub near Manchester Airport, where I had the privilege to meet a Representative, who came to know me through this blog. We spoke about the industry, why e-invoicing has not taken off as it should, and the potential acquisition targets in the UK. From the companies we discussed, Accountis had more synergies with FundTech than any other. Some of these being:

• Small company – eager to grow
• Control reside with Founder – makes much easier to deal with one person than a large number including financial backers
• Good technical capability – document exchange plus payments
• Deep understanding of the industry
• Key clients – DHL
• Scalability – ability to scale up quickly with investment
• Cash management – Good utilisation of cash reserves
• Location – significant public sector funding in Wales than in England
• Growth through cross selling – Ability to tap into each others customer base
• New propositions – ability to introduce new services

Since my initial encounter, I had the privilege to extend my relationship with the Representative. I also knows Rhys Jones lot better now than 12 months ago. As I am bound by confidentiality, I have not revealed everything I know. Brace yourselves for another announcement soon from Accountis!

I would like to take this opportunity to convey my best wishes for all involved from both camps. Additionally,

Well done, Rhys! You did it for the second time! What’s next, Sanoodi? If you are interested in learning about Sanoodi, do attend Northern StartUp Mobile 2.0 event on 21st Feb in Manchester eOffice. Could Rhys repeat the same success for edocr? As a start, bit more commitment would be much appreciated by the team!

Over the coming weeks, I will blog more into “what this means for the industry” and “what this means to Accountis”.

Acquisition further expands Fundtech’s product suite in the corporate banking financial supply chain

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Feb 07, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fundtech Ltd. (NASDAQ: FNDT), a market leader in global corporate banking solutions, today announced the acquisition of Accountis Ltd. of Bangor, Wales, a leading supplier of electronic invoice presentment and payment (EIPP) systems. Adding EIPP capabilities to Fundtech’s existing product lines of payments, cash management and settlements systems, expands its end-to-end corporate banking systems, and adds to the company’s capabilities in enabling the emerging financial supply chain.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Fundtech paid GBP 3.8 million in cash at closing and an additional amount of up to GBP 2.0 million in cash will be paid over the next three years based on the financial performance of Accountis. Accountis reported un-audited revenues of approximately GBP 1.0 million for the 12 months ended December 31, 2007.

Accountis’ electronic financial document exchange and payment solutions automate the way companies interact with one another through their accounts payable and receivables departments. This significantly reduces the time and expense involved with processing, paying and reconciling invoices. The European Association of Corporate Treasurers has shown that e-invoicing is capable of saving corporations up to 80 percent by eliminating the paper invoice processing, printing and postage costs associated with traditional billing. In addition, suppliers are able to receive payments faster.

The Accountis system addresses many of the key barriers to adoption of EIPP systems among corporations:

– Corporations that are suppliers of goods and services are able to easily adopt the Accountis system.

– Accountis’ Enterprise Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable systems seamlessly integrate with existing accounting and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

– The system is highly secure, supporting digital signatures and operating over a secure network.

– Compliance with local tax regulations.

– Corporations can make and receive validated payments through UK bank accounts by means of the Bankers Automated Clearing System (BACS).

Accountis has an established customer base of well-known companies such as: DHL, Virgin Retail, Goodyear Dunlop, Marconi, T-Mobile, Warner Bros., ICICI Bank.

“The acquisition of Accountis is an important step in Fundtech’s growth plan as we leverage new technology to expand our market leadership to encompass the Financial Supply Chain,” said Reuven Ben Menachem, CEO of Fundtech. “We welcome Accountis employees and clients into the Fundtech family and look forward to our mutual success.”

Rhys Jones, Founder and Managing Director of Accountis said, “We are pleased to become part of Fundtech’s global organization and join forces to significantly impact Financial Supply Chain automation. Fundtech’s global sales and support reach will help us capitalize on the early market momentum that Accountis has generated.”

Fundtech management will discuss the Accountis acquisition during its conference call to be held after the release of its Q4 2007 earnings on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 at 8:30 AM (EST). The conference call numbers are 1-866-800-8051 or 1-617-617-2704 (ask for the Fundtech call).

About Fundtech

With thirteen offices on four continents, Fundtech Ltd is a leading provider of software solutions and services to financial institutions around the world. The company develops and sells a broad array of products across the “financial supply chain” that enable banks to automate their corporate banking activities in order to improve efficiency, while providing their customers flexibility, convenience and control. Fundtech offers products in five business segments: payments, cash management, settlements, financial messaging, and post-trade securities settlement.

Fundtech is a publicly traded company, listed on NASDAQ (FNDT). The company was founded in 1993. For more information, please visit www.fundtech.com.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, projections of revenues, income or loss, capital expenditures, plans for growth and future operations, competition and regulation. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted or quantified. When used in this Release, the words, “estimates,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed or identified from time to time in Fundtech’s public filings, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006, including general economic and market conditions, changes in regulations and taxes and changes in competition in pricing environment. Undo reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are applicable only as of the date hereof. Fundtech undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this Release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE: Fundtech Ltd.

Up to now, the e-invoicing market has been dominated by OB10 due to their global expansion strategy, but this is soon to be threatened by a new M&A deal between two players I have come to respect. I cannot go into detail at present without breaching confidentiality agreement, but I consider this as a monumental achievement for the European e-invoicing industry. Stay tuned for more information.