Kalahari Acquires the Beast Source Code from Beast Financial Systems

Kalahari, a global provider of real-time analytic solutions and strategic consulting services to financial and energy trading institutions in more than 15 countries, today announced that it has acquired the source code from Beast Financial Systems suite of treasury products.

Beast Financial Systems ceased trading in July 2003. In December 2003, the company granted an unrestricted license for the use of the technology source code of all of its products and solutions to Kalahari for an undisclosed sum. Since acquiring the code, Kalahari has been conducting an in-depth analysis of what it believes to be the Beast's best functionality, with a view to integrating those elements and features into the next generation of its flagship price discovery and analytics solution, kACE, to be released later this year.

Under the direction of Kalahari's chief technology officer, Gautam Dixit, Kalahari is targeting value-added functionality in areas such as thin-client technology. Integration of complementary functionality into its own products will bolster Kalahari's strategic initiatives and allow the company to broaden its solution space and, more importantly, provide added benefits to its existing and potential client base.

Commenting on the acquisition, Kalahari managing director, Peter Trenier said: "We are undertaking a detailed evaluation of the Beast functionality. Once we have completed this task, we will handpick the features that will best complement, enhance and expedite the delivery of our next generation of price discovery and analytics solutions. Our strategy remains firm: we continue to equip financial institutions around the world with the best real-time price discovery and analytics solutions available."

kACE from Kalahari is the industry's leading real-time price discovery and analytics solution designed for enterprise-wide use at banks, broking firms and other financial institutions and corporations. kACE has been designed with flexibility in mind, and allows bespoke design for each customer and individual end-user requirements. kACE captures real-time data from a number of diverse sources and massages that data into a common, useable format.

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