Cape Town, 27th April 2022 - Thought Advisory is to merge with bancon Southern Africa in a partnership that will see delivery capacity double in the region, further strengthening bancon’s position as the go-to SAP Financial Services specialists.
The merger will combine the heritage of both companies and further enable mid-market and large financial institutions in Southern Africa to access local, knowledgeable, and cost-effective expertise in SAP Core Banking and Payments, S/4HANA Loans Management (CML) and S/4HANA Finance.
Jörg Mauelshagen, Co-Founder and Group Director of bancon comments, “This is a significant moment in the history of the bancon Group. It sends a positive message to the Southern African market, underlining our commitment to our existing client base and extensive talent network. The merger creates a prime opportunity for bancon to be a key SAP and SAP Fioneer partner in Southern Africa thanks to Thought Advisory’s deep regional expertise in finance transformation, core banking innovation and product development. Our combined knowledge and skills complement each other while enhancing our overall international offering and global capabilities.’’
Bradley Jarrett, Group Director of Financial Services at bancon added, “We are very excited about this strategic merger. Last year we identified a gap in the Southern Africa market. Existing SAP clients were missing a niche, specialist partner that could truly leverage the technology available and help them shape and meet their transformation goals. Merging our existing domestic business with Thought Advisory, provides the Southern African market with access to this local expertise at scale.”
“Outside of Southern Africa, this merger will allow us to deliver greater value to our existing global client base, with our South African base operating as a nearshore hub packed with cost-effective talent, specifically in the area of S/4HANA Finance, Core Banking and Loans Management.’’
Thought Advisory, whose clients have included Standard Bank and Discovery Bank, was founded in 2018 by a leadership team who started their careers working on the transformation of legacy banking and insurance platforms in the late 1990’s. A strong implementation partner to South African based SAP Banking clients, Thought Advisory are highly regarded for their strategic advisory capability. The company also has a New Zealand entity which will be included as part of the merger and will strengthen bancon APJ, including bancon Singapore and bancon India.
Theunis Greeff, Co-Founder of Thought Advisory comments, “The decision to merge with bancon Group allows us to accelerate the value we deliver to our clients and further excite the banking industry through innovative product development. bancon have an impressive client portfolio consisting of South African and international financial institutions, and by adding our experience to the existing offering we will be an even stronger SAP Banking partner, regionally and internationally.”
“With our deep understanding of the local market coupled with bancon Groups commitment to bringing Southern African talent to the international market, the merge offers an exciting and compelling proposition, one that sets us apart from the competition and allows us to further differentiate.”
The merger is expected to complete in Summer 2022. More details will be announced in the coming months.
About bancon Group
bancon was founded in 2001 and is a certified SAP and SAP Fioneer partner, headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. They serve the global SAP community via their six regional hubs in Walldorf, London, Slovakia, Cape Town, Bangalore and Singapore. They can transform a wide range of business challenges through data management, consultancy, design, development and implementation.
bancon have been innovating SAP Banking in a variety of ways since its foundational release, from product design and client implementation, through to in-house development that now makes up the SAP standard solutions. Be it transforming an SAP data landscape or designing innovative technical solutions, they can quickly assess a financial institutions needs in order to determine what outcomes will have the greatest impact on the bottom line.
bancon have an agile team which means projects are not prolonged beyond what is necessary. Their approach is different to larger consultancies. They get straight to the heart of the problem and solve it in the leanest, most efficient way. Why? because that’s true transformation.
About Thought Advisory
Thought Advisory was founded in 2018, amalgamating 25 years of experience in local and international financial services transformation. They excel in transforming legacy banking and insurance platforms to modern solutions and working with financial services organisations that are looking to improve or build upon their IT operations.
Thought Advisory provides expert functional, technical and business advisory services to the Financial Services Industry and enables reduced complexity and cost. Their consultants bring global experience, innovation and knowledge to customer projects.
With their skills deeply rooted in the financial services industry, Thought Advisory has continued to grow these competencies over the years, and today offers a holistic consulting portfolio in and around Banking and Insurance solutions.
