Belfast software company Kainos has acquired the Workday operations of Finnish company Cloudator for an undisclosed amount of money.
Kainos - which is one of Northern Ireland’s largest homegrown firms - helps companies develop their digital and IT infrastructure, and has been involved in projects related to the UK government's Covid-19 response.
It is a Workday services partner, collaborating with the US company to deploy its HR and financial management software.
Cloudator’s Workday division will be integrated into the Belfast company’s operations while its other business divisions will continue as is.
Kainos will add 55 new employees to its ranks as part of the deal and expand its reach into more European markets, especially in the Nordic countries, as Cloudator has offices in Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Estonia and the Netherlands.
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The new acquisition comes just a week after Kainos announced it has more than doubled its pre-tax profit to £57m during the pandemic.
An artist’s impression of the Kainos offices on Belfast's Dublin Road
The tech unicorn (a term given to private start-up companies valued at over $1bn) now has more than 700 staff working in Belfast and is planning to develop a new office on the site of the city’s Dublin Road Moviehouse cinema.
The demolition of the Moviehouse is intended to be complete by the end of the summer but a decision on the exact scope of the office project will not be known until early next year, reports BBC News NI.
Kainos CEO Brendan Mooney said the firm wanted to get a feel for how hybrid-working in the home and office would impact on the requirements for the new building, adding that there would be a return to in-person client meetings, training and marketing events, but does not expect the amount of business travel to return to pre-pandemic levels.
Mr Mooney also revealed that the firm - NI’s only representative in the FTSE 250 -received 34,000 job applications last year over a period when it recruited just over 300 new staff.
