Vertafore, Inc., a provider of software and services to theinsurance industry, announced it has signed an agreement to acquireSircon Corporation. Sircon serves the needs of the insurance marketby connecting carriers, agencies and brokers, agents, educationproviders, and state regulators through a suite of online servicesthat allows companies to manage compliance and producer informationand helps agents get licensed and appointed faster.

"As a provider of producer lifecycle management solutions forthe insurance industry, Sircon benefits the entire distributionchain by streamlining and expediting the producer license andcontracting process, decreasing costs and increasing revenue byallowing producers to begin to sell sooner," says Euan Menzies,president and CEO of Vertafore. "Our acquisition of Sircon willfurther expand Vertafore's solutions to help companies andindividual producers in the insurance industry keep track ofrequirements needed to sell insurance in all 50 states. Sircon fitsperfectly with our mission of improving channel productivity, andwe believe Sircon's offering will be valuable for our broker andcarrier customers."Sircon provides an industry-wide solution toautomate licensing and compliance requirements. Serving theproducer management needs of both the insurance industry and stategovernment regulators, the company offers a suite of integrated,end-to-end insurance compliance products and services.

"Since both Sircon and Vertafore are focused on solving businessneeds across the insurance marketplace, we feel this is anextremely positive move for us and the industry as a whole," saysBob Nero, president and CEO of Sircon. "Sircon complementsVertafore's current solutions, and its strong presence in theagency and broker markets will drive producer adoption, which willin turn be especially valuable for carriers. I believe that theacquisition will result in significant synergies that will expandthe services we can provide to our customers and accelerate Sirconand Vertafore's growth."

The acquisition is expected to close prior to July 30, 2008,subject to customary closing conditions.