New Zealand software company Idiom has been acquired by Manchester-based Heywood Pension Technologies for 'eight figures'.

Idiom is a business rules software specialist that develops and licences its proprietary engine worldwide, dubbed ‘Idiom Decision Manager’. Idiom claims its business rules engine has been proven at scale in complex commercial projects worldwide. 

Chief executive and founder of Idiom, Mark Norton, said he developed “disruptive” software and tools at Idiom 22 years ago when he founded the business.

Commercial systems relied on the business owners having control of the algorithms. That control has been returned using his engine, he said, with the development of decision automation software.

'Business agility'

The partnership between Idiom and Heywood Pension Technologies was the perfect complement, Norton said.

“Our collaboration with Heywood further demonstrates our ability to develop and use business rules to drive business agility.”

Norton said he had customers across the world in local, state and central government as well as health administration, insurance, finance and pensions. The business will continue to operate with its existing staff and serve customers worldwide from its NZ base.

Many clients use Idiom’s plug-n-play rules to automate business algorithms on an industrial scale to reduce development cost and time, he said.

Idiom has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Heywood. 

Interim CEO of Heywood Pension Technologies, Sian Jones, said the acquisition will allow Heywood Pension Technologies to venture more deeply into the buy-in buy-out market as part of their growth strategy.

Jones said it was committed to leveraging the acquisition to solidify its position as a leader in the pension industry.

Heywood Pension Technologies provides technology-enabled data solutions for workplace pensions. On its website, it said it used a pension administration platform, Altair, to help clients understand pension schemes.