€6.7 million in investments and 38 new jobs in East Region

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan TD today (Sunday 14th June 2009) announced that two companies in the East Region are investing a total of €6.7 million in Research & Development (R&D) initiatives and cutting-edge technology, which will create 38 new jobs, with the support of Government through IDA Ireland.

Sophis Group in Fitzwilliam Lane, Dublin 2, a developer of complex specialist financial software, is making a €1.7 million R&D investment in the expansion of its Software R&D facility, Sophis Technology Ireland Ltd. (STIL), which will add 13 high calibre engineering positions to the 58 people already employed. The R&D will involve the innovative development of a new highly complex financial software product.

Wetzel Holding AG, in Clonee, Co. Meath, a leader in print cylinder production and technology, has opened a €5 million cutting-edge technology production operation, which will create 25 jobs over the next five years, and is undertaking a major R&D initiative with the aim of establishing it as a Centre-of-excellence in roto gravure printing tool production, in particular computerised preparation techniques Recruitment is already underway.

An Tánaiste said, “These investments are a major endorsement of the knowledge, expertise and infrastructure which exist in Ireland for the successful implementation of high calibre R&D.  They are also a significant vote of confidence in both Irish plant’s abilities as in the case of Sophis its products are complex and require a high degree of mathematical and technical expertise, while the aim of Wetzel’s R&D is to demonstrate the ability of the Clonee operation to add significant production and process efficiencies across the whole Wetzel Group. The investments are in line with the Government’s strategies of moving the Irish operation of international companies higher up the value chain and of gaining significantly increased responsibilities.”

Details of the two companies and their investments –

Sophis Group - €1.7 million investment

The Sophis Group’s new R&D activity will constitute the innovative development of a new highly complex software product which will increase the R&D scale of the Irish operation (STIL) and will see the introduction of leading edge technologies and functionalities.  The new product offering, ‘Equity Finance’, will provide enhanced risk management, security and transparency of data processing of non-exotic financial instruments.

An Tánaiste said, “This is a major endorsement of the engineering expertise that STIL has developed over the past 10 years.  Sophis’ products are complex, requiring a high degree of mathematical and technical expertise and as a result the collective STIL skill-set is of a very high quality.”

Sophis Group is a leading provider of cross-asset, front-to-back office and risk management technology for capital markets and asset management. It is engaged in the development and distribution of specialist financial software systems for equity derivative traders and risk managers. Sophis designs flexible, open and scaleable solutions that support fully automated processing of transactions across all asset classes.

Arnaud Vinciguerra, Head of R&D, Sophis Group said, “Developing software is at the very heart of Sophis’ activity. By using the latest technologies our mission is to create the most open and efficient financial software on the market. In order to achieve these goals Sophis is investing significantly in R&D. The continued expansion of our Irish operation is part of that strategy and will significantly increase STIL’s role in our global business.”

Sophis Group, founded in Paris in 1985, employs over 300 people worldwide and has a global presence of 11 offices serving a client base of more than 100 market-leading institutions. It serves more than 100 market-leading institutions, including investment banks, asset managers, hedge funds and insurance companies with its two primary solutions; RISQUE, dedicated to the sell-side, and VALUE, dedicated to the buy-side. RISQUE is a software platform that allows market traders to create new hybrid products. VALUE is a solution dedicated to fund managers allowing traders to pursue trading strategies in tightly regulated markets.

STIL was established in Dublin in 1999.  It is focused on back and middle-office software development and is also the Global Centre for Quality Assurance of all Sophis products. It is the holding company for all Sophis operational subsidiaries worldwide and is one of just two R&D centres; the other is located in Paris.

Wetzel Holding AG - €5million investment

The aim of the R&D study by Wetzel in Clonee is to demonstrate the ability of the facility to add significant production and process efficiencies across the whole Wetzel Group and to establish it as a Centre-of-excellence in roto gravure printing tool production, in particular computerised preparation techniques. The result would be development, growth and the winning of new business for Clonee. It would also help Wetzel develop a new, more efficient production process and firmly establish its reputation as an innovative player in the global industry.

An Tánaiste said, “This is good news for the Co. Meath facility. To have a production line, far superior to anything else of its kind in a company that has only recently opened is testament to what Ireland can offer international companies as a leading European location for investment.”

Jason Brennan, Managing Director of Wetzel Ltd, said “The goal of this project is to further develop our cutting-edge technology production process. The key areas the project will look at include the development of the process work flow, the integration of SAP, fully automated process control and quality surveillance combined with ‘Green’ production, which will include low energy use and environmental friendly methods. It is our aim to make the Irish operation the most successful and efficient of its kind on a global scale and Ireland meets all the necessary criteria to ensure this will happen. We will also be investigating the opportunity for collaboration with Irish third level institutions in a number of areas of our work.”

Wetzel Ireland Ltd, Clonee, Co. Meath: The facility was established as a joint venture manufacturing facility with J.J Stafford engineering, a leading Irish company owned  by Patrick Stafford, to produce printing rollers for the domestic and UK  market.

Wetzel Holding AG, Switzerland, is the head of the Wetzel Processing Group, a family owned Mittelstand company established in 1923. Wetzel is a leading manufacturer of printing cylinders and in embossing rollers for packaging in Continental Europe and embossing rollers for decorative applications and functional surfaces world wide and a technology leader in its industry. The products and services are used in the decorative, packaging and industrial embossing markets. Wetzel has operations in Switzerland, Germany (2), Poland and now in Ireland. The company employs 450 people.

For further information please contact –

STIL – Paul Campbell, Managing Director, STIL.
Paul.Campbell@sophis.net, +353-1-7753962

Wetzel –
Jason Brennan, Managing director at Clonee Tel (01) 8026530  www.wetzel.de

Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment –
Press Office, Tel: 01- 6312200         
Roisin McCann, Mob: 0872594144

IDA Ireland –
Brendan Kenny, Communications Division   Tel: 087 9036126