Fidelity National Information Services Inc., or FIS, acquired SunGard Data Services Inc. in December as SunGard was expanding its Jacksonville office on the Southbank.
While FIS, headquartered on Riverside Avenue, continues to merge operations of the two companies and look at cost savings, CEO Gary Norcross said FIS expects to continue operating offices on both sides of the St. Johns River and grow the businesses.
Although it might be preferable to consolidate into one location, FIS’ growth is creating more office space needs than it can accommodate in a single office, Norcross said Tuesday after FIS’ brief annual shareholders meeting at its headquarters complex.
“We have committed to bringing more than 200 new jobs to Jacksonville as part of the merger,” he said.
FIS in March secured $1.8 million in city and state incentives to expand the former SunGard offices at 701 San Marco Blvd., adding 250 jobs to the 1,100 it already had in Jacksonville.
Norcross said the company will close SunGard’s other Jacksonville office at 1660 Prudential Drive.
FIS and SunGard both provide technology for financial services companies and Norcross said the integration of the two is moving ahead.
“We really blend these companies very quickly. That’s part of our culture,” he said.
The acquisition of SunGard grows FIS’ revenue from more than $6 billion in 2015 to more than $9 billion this year.
“As part of our acquisition strategy, we are committed to providing both top and bottom-line growth,” Norcross told shareholders at the meeting.
However, FIS was already growing without adding the SunGard business. Norcross said FIS has been increasing earnings per share by 10 percent a year over the last six years and its stock has outperformed the Standard & Poor’s 500 index by 60 percent.
“For the long-term we see a very attractive market” for the company’s services, he said.
In an election year when political uncertainty will make Wall Street nervous, Goldman Sachs analysts this week touted FIS as one of 16 stocks that should continue to do well in this market.
After the meeting, Norcross said he hasn’t seen the Goldman Sachs report but FIS does provide technology solutions that financial institutions will continue to use, regardless of the economic or political climate.
“Our clients need the solutions to open their doors every day,” he said.