Acquisition

RNS Number : 9858E

1Spatial Holdings Plc

15 April 2011

 



15 April 2011

1Spatial Holdings plc

("1Spatial" or the "Company")

Acquisition of Lagen Spatial pty Limited

1Spatial, a holding company focused on improving the quality and access to business critical location-data across the globe, is pleased to announce that on 15th April 2011, it entered into a binding share purchase agreement relating to the acquisition of Lagen Spatial pty Limited (the "Transaction"). Lagen Spatial pty Limted ("Lagen"), based in Sydney, is one of Australia's leading distributors of spatial and location based software technologies. The acquisition will provide 1Spatial with a critical mass in Australia on which to launch the Company's planned expansion in this developing economic powerhouse. Lagen reported profits before taxation of Aus $268,000 in the year to June 30^th 2010.

The acquisition will be funded out of 1Spatial's working capital and will not result in any dilution of existing shareholder equity. 

Completion of the Transaction, which is subject to the provision of certain standard documents by the Company and Lagen, is scheduled to take place on 19th April 2011 ("Completion").

The total consideration paid by the Company will be Aus$1.0m, consisting of $765,000 in cash and $235,000 in clearance of existing Lagen loan liabilities.  The consideration will be paid in three stages;

-              $365,000 in cash and $85,000 in loan clearance on Completion

-              $200,000 in cash and $75,000 in loan clearance payable on the 1st anniversary of Completion

-              $200,000 in cash and $75,000 in loan clearance payable on the 2nd anniversary of Completion

The Transaction completes the third stage in 1Spatial's strategy to expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the last three years, the Company has made a number of key sales of its software platform, Radius Studio, to public sector organisations across Australia.  In the last year, two key employees have been placed in the country and, following this acquisition, the Company now has a solid foundation on which to develop its foothold.

Australia is a key market for the Company because it is making significant investments to improve the location data supply chain, and has a specific requirement for improving data quality and automating data integration, which are the Company's core competencies.  Lagen Spatial resells solutions from Industry leaders Safe Software, Pitney Bowes Business Insight (PBBI) and Trimble. It has a customer base of over 200 separate institutions and private sector companies across Australia. 

The opportunity for 1Spatial is to develop this customer base as a route to market for the Company's software and services. The acquisition will lever both Lagen's reputation for delivery and quality of service and the complementary relationships the Company has with Safe, PBBI and Trimble.

Nic Snape, Chief Executive of 1Spatial, commented:

"I am very excited to be able to announce the details of the Transaction, which I believe will provide an excellent return on the investment we are making. Lagen is a company with an excellent reputation in Australia and an important set of commercial relationships with leading international companies that the Group is seeking to partner with.  Not only will the acquisition enhance our earnings position, it will enable us to follow through on a commitment we made to our customers in the region that we would strengthen our capacity for providing local sales and consulting support."

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For further information please contact:

1Spatial Holdings plc
Nic Snape                                                                                                            [phone]

Libertas Capital Corporate Finance Limited
Sandy Jamieson                                                                                               [phone]

Rivington Street Corporate Finance
Peter Greensmith                                                                                           [phone]

Bishopsgate Communications 
Duncan McCormick, Deepali Schneider, Natalie Quinn                  [phone]

About 1Spatial

1Spatial is a holding company focused on improving the quality and access to business critical location-data across the globe.  For more than 40 years, 1Spatial has been providing solutions and services to public and private sector organisations who handle high-volumes of business critical data.  By automating the transformation of complex and distributed data into accurate and valuable information, organisations can improve operational efficiently, reduce costs, manage compliance and improve decision making.   These solutions are delivered through its own sales and services team with headquarters in Cambridge, UK.  For more information, visit www.1spatial.com 

 

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