Acquisition Announcement

RNS Number : 3437Z

CentralNic Group PLC

14 September 2022

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement via the regulatory information service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

14 September 2022

CentralNic Group plc

("CentralNic" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Acquisition Announcement

CentralNic Group Plc (AIM: CNIC), the global internet platform that derives recurring revenue from marketplaces for online presence and online marketing service s, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire M.A Aporia Ltd. ("Aporia") for an initial consideration of USD 11.2m in cash subject to customary adjustments for net cash and working capital ("Acquisition") from Aporia's founders.

Aporia is a technology company operating in the fields of social media and native advertising. In 2021¹, Aporia generated revenue of USD 35m, gross profit of USD 3.5m and EBITDA USD 2m. The Acquisition is part of a larger vertical integration strategy, providing the Group's Online Marketing segment with more direct access to high quality traffic to monetise.

The acquisition will be immediately earnings accretive. As Aporia is an exclusive supplier to CentralNic, the transaction will increase CentralNic's gross margin and EBITDA margin but have no immediate impact on revenue. Under the terms of the agreement, the sellers of Aporia may earn up to another USD 7.8m payable over a performance period until and including 2024.

Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, said "Disintermediating the value chain holds enormous potential to create a more efficient ecosystem in CentralNic's Online Marketing business, removing transaction costs and friction losses. This acquisition represents a major step forward in our disintermediation strategy, creating more value for CentralNic, as well as for the users of our customer acquisition and traffic monetization services."

¹ Financial information relating to Aporia is based upon audited annual accounts.

For further information:  

CentralNic Group Plc Ben Crawford, Chief Executive Officer Don Baladasan, Group Managing Director Michael Riedl, Chief Financial Officer	[phone]
Zeus Capital Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker) Nick Cowles / Jamie Peel / James Edis (Investment Banking) Dominic King (Corporate Broking)	[phone] [phone]
Berenberg (Joint Broker) Mark Whitmore, Richard Andrews, Alix Mecklenburg-Solodkoff	[phone]
SEC Newgate (for Media) Bob Huxford / Isabelle Smurfit / Max Richardson	[phone] [e-mail]

About CentralNic Group plc 

CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) is a London-based AIM-quoted company which drives the growth of the global digital economy by developing and managing software platforms allowing businesses globally to buy subscriptions to domain names for websites and email, monetise their websites, and acquire customers online. Its core growth strategy is identifying and acquiring cash-generative businesses in its industry with annuity revenue streams and exposure to growth markets and migrating them onto the CentralNic software and operating platforms.

CentralNic operates globally with customers in almost every country in the world.  It earns recurring revenues from the worldwide sales of internet domain names and other services on an annual subscription basis. For more information please visit:  www.centralnicgroup.com

 

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