Standard Life has agreed to pay £24.2m cash for Vebnet, a developer of software for the employee benefits market. The company was floated on Aim in 2003 with a market value of £8.7m. Its shares jumped 132p to 253½p yesterday.

Vebnet has 145 corporate clients and 293,000 users of its flexible benefits tools. All of its 78 employees will transfer to the life assurer, including senior management.