AFA Systems, a financial software firm is the latest target for Microgen.

An acquisitive company, Microgen is accompanying the bid with a share placing. The AFA board had accepted the bid and 48% of the existing share capital had given irrevocable undertakings to support the bid.

The offer is for 4.51p and 0.18 of a share for each AFA Systems share. An average closing price over 5 days gives a value of 15.32p pers share.

4.3m shares will be placed at 57p. £2.4m will be raised for "ongoing corporate purposes".

The market for software and IT services has been fragmented. A period of consolidation has been led by Microgen. Iris Software was brought last month by a Private Equity group.