Type Public Services Insurance solutions Founded 1982 | Industry Computer software Headquarters Israel | |
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Traded as NASDAQ: SPNS, TASE: SPNS Revenue US$ 185.64 million (2015) Operating income Stock price SPNS (NASDAQ) US$ 13.33 -0.17 (-1.26%)21 Mar, 4:00 PM GMT-4 - Disclaimer Founders Tsvi Misinai, Tuvi Orbach, Shai Sole Subsidiaries Maximum Processing Inc., Sapiens (uk) Limited Profiles | ||
Sapiens International Corporation is a publicly traded company, headquartered in Israel, that develops computer software solutions for the insurance industry. Its shares are traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. As of July 2015, the company has 1,017 employees and a market cap of US$500 million.
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History
Sapiens grew out of an initiative, dubbed DB1, undertaken by a group of scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science during the 1970s to develop a novel object-oriented application generator for use with mainframe computers. One of the driving forces behind the initiative was Tsvi Misinai, a graduate of the Technion who in 1972 went on to spearhead the project. He teamed up with Shai Sole, Shmuel Timor and Eli Raban. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Weizmann team, partnered with a local Israeli company, AAA–Advanced Automated Applications (founded by Tuvi Orbach), began marketing DB1 to domestic large organizations . Subsequently, the company started marketing its product overseas. One of the company's first overseas clients was a UK based international infrastructure firm in 1986. In 1984 the Weizmann team established its own company, to be later merged with AAA, and joined by entrepreneurs Ron Zuckerman and Shaul Shani. The company severed itself from the Weizmann Institute and was incorporated under its new name—Sapiens.
By 1990, Sapiens had established a client base encompassing Israel, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, South Africa, Germany, and Venezuela. In 1990 Sapiens was registered as a public limited liability company in the Netherlands Antilles under the name Sapiens International Corporation N.V. In 1991 Sapiens Latin American Division entered the Brazilian market. In 1992 shares of Sapiens began trading on the NASDAQ exchange. The year 1993 is considered the company's peak, with 900 workers employed at 33 branches around the world and a market cap of US$340 million.
During the second half of the 1990 Sapiens focused on developing a business rules technology (eMerge) and Legacy Modernization products and services. The company was highly successful in winning contracts for updating information systems to deal with the Year 2000 problem and to adapt systems to the changeover to the new single European currency (the 'Euro'). In 1999 the company's annual revenues reached USD$91, but declined in the following years.
Refocusing on Insurance Software
In 2001, Formula Systems, until then a minority shareholder, acquired control over the (then struggling) company. Dan Goldstein, then Chairman of The Formula Group, assumed the role of Chairman of Sapiens, and supervised its recovery. The company decided to focus solely on developing software solution for the Insurance Industry.
In 2010, Sapiens acquired Harcase, a Canada-based software company, developer of policy administration suite for Property and Casualty Insurance.
In 2011, Goldstein initiated and carried out a 3-way corporate merger, between Sapiens and two subsidiaries of Formula Vision. These two companies both also focused on Insurance solutions, FIS (Formula Insurance Solutions) and IDIT, merged into Sapiens to form a world leader in software for the Insurance sector.
In March 2015, Sapiens acquired IBEXI Solutions, an India based provider of insurance business and technology solutions in Asia Pacific.
In July 2015, Sapiens Acquired Insseco, an Insurance Software Provider in Poland for $9.1 Million.