Ufida acquires IT firms

UFIDA Software Co has acquired two Shanghai-based IT service providers for real estate firms to expand its portfolio in the booming house market in China, the country's No. 1 enterprise software provider said yesterday.

Ufida spent 14.50 million yuan (US$1.98 million) to acquire Shanghai Tiannuo and Tanwang Software.

The two firms' combined revenue was 6.43 million yuan in the first 11 months last year with a net profit of 93,300 yuan in the same period, according to a statement delivered by Ufida to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The two firms focus on providing product management and cost control suites.

Shanghai-listed Ufida grew 0.48 percent to 56.56 yuan compared with a 0.78 percent rise of the Shanghai Composite Index yesterday.

"The acquisition of the innovative firms will help us consolidate the positions in the real estate industry and better serve our clients," Zheng Yulin, Ufida's vice president, said.

China's application software market revenue in the real estate segment was 550 million yuan in 2006, 38.1 percent growth year-on-year, according to CCW Research, a Beijing-based IT research firm.

In 2007, Ufida enlisted big clients such as Greenland, Sprite and Fosun, which have several listed firms in real estate and pharmaceutical sectors.

Ufida's revenue from Shanghai will surpass 100 million yuan this year for the first time, Huang said.