One of Fargo-Moorhead's largest technology companies has been sold to a national banking services company.
SPARAK, founded here 19 years ago, is now owned by Harland Financial Services of Atlanta. SPARAK provides integrated software and hardware products for small banks.
Harland Financial Solutions acquired SPARAK for $32 million in cash. Depending on future operating performance, up to an additional $2 million in deferred purchase price may be paid. SPARAK's revenues in 2001 were $17 million.
Harland Financial Services is a division of John H. Harland Co. (ticker symbol JH on the New York Stock Exchange), a 79-year-old nationwide business services company that employs more than 5,000.
"We acquired SPARAK for two reasons," said John O'Malley, president of Harland Financial Solutions. "First, it builds on our core systems leadership position for financial institutions. Second, by integrating SPARAK's system with our other products and services, we will be able to add tremendous value for its existing customers as well as for other community banks nationwide."
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SPARAK is now part of Harland Financial Solutions' Core Systems Group, which also includes the ULTRADATA and CuServ core systems for credit unions, as well as the BankServ core system for community banks.
"This is very complementary to what we do," said Raj Shivdasani, president of Harland Financial Solutions's Core Systems Group. Shivdasani is in Fargo this week for strategic planning with SPARAK leaders.
"We bought this company because of its core system," Shivdasani said. "We didn't have anything like it in our portfolio."
Steven P. Anderson, who had been president and CEO of SPARAK, has been named senior vice president and general manager of Harland Financial Solutions-Fargo. Anderson said the Fargo office, which employs 100, including 85 in Fargo, will continue to grow here.
"That was one of the big advantages -- this gives us the opportunity to grow our business out of Fargo," Anderson said. "We anticipate a lot more business with the Harland name. There's a huge market out there and we only have a fraction of it."
Harland Financial Services employs 957 people in 11 offices, giving employees great opportunities for career paths within the company, Anderson said.
Employees in Fargo will have the opportunity to be shareholders in John H. Harland Co., he said.
SPARAK made a regional name for itself as a pioneer in software for small banks. The company has its software in 260 banks in 32 states. SPARAK is in two buildings at 2701 12th Ave. S.W., adjacent to the Sports Bubble.
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Anderson said SPARAK, through investment bankers, had been courted by a number of larger companies. "We'd always been real open-minded. Many were knocking on our doors, but we weren't interested," Anderson said.
"It was a hand-in-glove fit. The more we evaluated it, it was a win-win."
Anderson said Harland has incredible name recognition in the industry. "Go into practically any bank in the country, and they know who Harland is. When we went into new markets, they said, 'SPARAK who?'"
Harland is an established industry leader in bank products, including checks, check imaging and customer relations and lending solutions applications for banks, credit unions and savings and loans.
Anderson said small banks, especially, are poised to spend more on technology.
"Services we offer enable them to keep up and grow in their markets," Anderson said. "These are not optional things. These are mission-critical items."
Shivdasani said Harland will take SPARAK technology into a new market of larger banks, more than 8,000 institutions nationally.
"We'll scale all the way up to the upper-middle level of banks," Shivdasani said. "SPARAK has great people, a great client base and great products."
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Readers can reach Forum Business Editor Gerry Gilmour at (701) 241-5560
