IT software and services group Cedar has completed its £5 million acquisition of insurance and financial management systems company PMPL.

Announcing that it will be renamed Cedar PMPL, the Surrey-based group also said that it had won a six-figure contract to upgrade Direct Line's financial and management systems.

Matt O'Donnell, Cedar PMPL spokesman, said the consolidation taking place in the insurance industry was creating unprecedented demands for the movement and management of data.

Cedar PMPL has five major products and a stock market value of around £600m. In the last year, its staff has increased from 240 to almost 450, after it recently acquired call centre software and data warehousing companies.

Its clients include major insurers Norwich Union and the Prudential and government bodies such as the Treasury.


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