Ventiv buys Webrisk from Effisoft

Ventiv Technology has acquired Webrisk, a risk management information system, from its French owner Effisoft.

The two companies began talks in mid-2016. Risk technology firm Ventiv has not disclosed how much it paid for the acquisition.

The deal marks Ventiv’s second acquisition in three years; the firm was itself divested from insurance broking firm Aon three years ago, where it was previously known as Aon eSolutions.

Edouard Lefebvre, chief operating officer of Webrisk Paris and David Thomas, director of Webrisk London, will both join Ventiv, “as well as all current Webrisk personnel”, the company said.

“For me it’s largely about the talent and staff that we’re bringing into group. They’re a highly regarded software vendor in this space,” Steve Cloutman, international managing director at Ventiv, told StrategicRISK.

“What we’ve done here is buy one of Effisoft’s products – so that’s the client base, staff, intellectual property – all those assets,” said Cloutman.

“We want to grow and expand our product set, which is ultimately beneficial to clients – the existing clients we have and new ones we’re bringing into the organisation,” he added.

Webrisk’s workforce is split between its Paris and London offices, while UK-based Ventiv has a small Paris presence, and a larger footprint of offices in Hong Kong, Sydney, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and various US locations.

“We now have a network of staff that can service clients in those territories. They get access to a larger organisation with a larger footprint around the world to help serve those clients on a local basis,” Cloutman told StrategicRISK.

The Webrisk product is aimed at risk and insurance managers at large and multinational corporates, allowing them to collate information on a global basis, such as for managing claims, renewals and creating and tracking loss prevention programmes.

Webrisk’s Lefebvre said: “We are truly excited to be able to join Ventiv. This move means that we will be joining the market leader in both Europe and across the globe.”

Thomas added: “The acquisition and integration allows us to continue to support all our clients with an even stronger global network of offices and expertise.”