Kdb+ Acquired by Private Equity
May 9th, 2025 by admin
2025-05-08 – Private equity firm TA announced an “All-Cash Offer to Acquire FD Technologies, Owner of Global Real-Time Analytics Leader KX”.
Most people are probably wondering how this came about:
- 1996 – Brian established First Derivatives (FD) in 1996 from his mother’s spare bedroom (Newry, Northern Ireland) with a loan of £5,000 from the Credit Union.
- 1993 – Arthur Whitney and Janet Lustgarten jointly form the company KX
- 1998 – Kdb+ – In-memory column based database created by KX
- KX and FD work in partnership to grow the business.
- 2014-10 – First Derivatives acquires a controlling stake in Kx Systems.
- 2018 – FD agrees to buy out minority Kx Systems shareholders (Arthur and Janet)
- 2019 – First Derivatives completes acquisition of the minority shareholdings in Kx Systems, taking the company’s total stake in the business to 100 per cent for $53.8 million (€48m) in cash.
“The deal marks an important milestone for the company”, chief executive Brian Conlon said. - 2019-07-28 – Brian Conlon, one of Northern Ireland’s most successful businessmen passes away. (link)
- 2020-01 – Seamus Keating appointed as CEO
- 2024-03 – FD Technologies broken into 3 separate firms:
- MRP – Marketing (spun off into a merger)
- First Derivative consulting arm.
- FD Technologies owning the KX software business
- 2024-12 – FD Technologies plc (LON:FDP) completes sale of First Derivative (consultancy) to EPAM Systems, Inc..
- 2025-05-08 – Private equity firm TA announced an “All-Cash Offer to Acquire FD Technologies, Owner of Global Real-Time Analytics Leader KX”.