Two technology companies in Yorkshire have merged in a deal that was helped along by a number of well-known advisors.
The automation software company iPortalis, which is based in Harrogate, has merged with the decision intelligence platform company Hublsoft, which is based in York. The new group will do business under the name “Hublsoft.”
NorthEdge, a private equity firm, backs iPortalis, and Maven Capital Partners backs Hublsoft.
The merger should improve Hublsoft’s core technology platform by adding automation features to its decision intelligence suite.
By integrating the iPortalis technology, automation can be used in a number of decision-making situations. This is especially true when significant operational and cost savings can be made, such as when the cloud or software licencing economics can be optimised automatically.
Nick Cowlen will stay on as CEO of Hublsoft, and Pat Clarke, CEO of iPortalis, will join the Hublsoft board as a non-executive chair.
Nick Cowlen said, “We’ve always tried to make technology that boosts human intelligence instead of trying to replace it. This requires a strong mix of automation and human control.” This merger is a big step forward in our ability to use this to solve very real and important business problems.
“We are thrilled to have Pat and the iPortalis team join the Hublsoft family. This will allow us to expand our capabilities, improve our platform, and keep giving all of our customers excellent service.”
Hublsoft’s chair, Pat Clarke, said, “This is a great time to join forces with Hublsoft. With our combined knowledge and, in particular, our history in application licence management, we not only have a strong strategic vision, but we can also save our clients money right away and in a big way when they need it most.
Hubsoft was helped by Deloitte (tax), TLT (legal), and Foot Anstey (legal). Maven, which put money into Hublsoft, had Gateley, RW Blears, and Shoosmiths as advisors (legal). KPMG (tax) and Muckle gave advice to iPortalis and NorthEdge, the private equity firm that backed them (legal).