Dubai, June 29, 2015: Cedar Management Consulting International LLC (Cedar), the global management consulting firm today announced that it has acquired the business and operating assets of IBS Publishing, the leading UK based financial technology research, publication and consulting firm. This includes their primary brand and operating platform - IBS Intelligence.

Since 1999, Cedar’s Dubai office has helped over 60 banks in the region develop their growth strategy, and has led the business, operations, and technology transformation of many of these banks. This includes over 25 core banking tranformation mandates. More importantly, Cedar has also played a key role as a consultant in the merger of multiple banks in the region including Emirates Bank – NBD, Dubai Bank–EIB, RBS-ADCB, and most recently ADIB– Barclays.

For over 20 years, IBS Intelligence has been the definitive source for independent, in-depth news, research and analysis of financial technology markets, and has a global clientele spread over 38 countries across all continents. It’s  comprehensive range of industry reports includes a wide spectrum of financial domains and also tracks global technology investments and trends in the banking industry through its flagship publication, the IBS Journal. This includes research on Islamic Banking Technology. It has also provided consulting services to over 80 global clients including leading multinational and regional banks, PE firms, investment banks, consulting firms and technology solution providers. Its global consulting clientele includes Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Close Brothers, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank, Lloyds TSB, Misys, Oracle, Polaris, Rabo Bank, Sungard among others.

The acquisition of IBS will significantly enhance the value proposition that Cedar brings to its Middle East clients. IBS brings Cedar a deeper global knowledge base on banking technology and trends – critical to GCC banks as they continue to invest aggressively in technology. Additionally Cedar will focus on developing a much larger Middle East client base for IBS’s research and reports.

Mr. Sanjiv Anand, Chairman, Cedar Management Consulting International said “This is an important milestone for Cedar and IBS Intelligence, as it brings in the synergy of unrivalled thought leadership with award winning execution excellence.  This would further propel the quality and effectiveness of the value delivered to our global clients in the financial services industry. It will also provide IBS Intelligence, a global platform to rapidly grow its research, analysis and publications business”