TIDMSQS
RNS Number : 7667D
SQS Software Quality Systems AG
02 February 2015
2 February 2015
SQS Software Quality Systems AG
("SQS" or the "Company")
Acquisition of a majority of the issued share capital of Bit
Media S.p.A for EUR6.07 million
SQS Software Quality Systems AG (AIM: SQS.L), the world's
largest specialist supplier of software quality services, announces
that it has acquired 90% of the issued share capital of Bit Media
S.p.A ("Bit Media"), a testing services and systems analysis
provider to the financial services and public sectors,
headquartered in Italy, for a cash consideration of EUR6.07
million. The consideration for the acquisition was entirely funded
from the Company's existing cash reserves.
The acquisition of Bit Media gives SQS entry into the Italian
market, and provides a solid and substantial platform from which to
strengthen our service to the Company's existing Italian customers
and to expand further into the region through the cross selling of
services. Bit Media is closely aligned with SQS in terms of the
services it provides and its focus on the Banking, Financial
Services and Insurance ("BFSI") sectors and will bolster SQS'
capabilities within these key industries, which now account for
over 50% of the Company's revenues. There are also a number of
operational synergies across the two organisations that may result
in cost savings and improved efficiencies including providing the
existing Bit Media business with access to SQS's lower cost
offshore testing resources.
Bit Media has consistently demonstrated a healthy financial
performance. In its latest available audited statements for the
year ended 31 December 2013, Bit Media delivered revenues of
EUR11.5 million and a profit before tax of EUR1.1 million. Future
revenues are also underpinned by a substantial and secure order
backlog of EUR32.9 million over the next three years.
Bit Media is expected to benefit from the additional scale and
capabilities provided by being part of SQS, potentially leading to
new sales opportunities. In addition to new client opportunities,
SQS currently has a number of multi-national clients that have
operations or conduct business in Italy and have expressed an
interest for the Company to provide its services on a local basis
within the region. In addition, it is expected that there will be
opportunities to upsell SQS's existing services to Bit Media's
client base which consists of many excellent and long-established
relationships.
SQS has acquired 90% of Bit Media from the shareholders pursuant
to the terms of an acquisition agreement for a cash consideration
of EUR6.07 million. The Managing Director of Bit Media will retain
10% of the shares and is to remain with SQS, as managing Director
SQS Italy. The parties have agreed a call option in favour of SQS
and a put option in favour of the vendor, over the remaining 10% of
the shares that SQS is not acquiring at this time. Either party may
exercise its respective option at any time between the 3(rd) and
5(th) anniversary of completion of the acquisition, the valuation
of which will be determined with reference to Bit Media's latest
audited profit after tax at that time.
Commenting on the Acquisition, Livio Mariotti, Managing Director
of Bit Media, said: "We are confident that the global scale and
delivery capabilities of SQS will provide us with numerous new
business opportunities upon which we will focus our attention. We
therefore greatly look forward to being part of SQS."
Commenting on the Acquisition, Diederik Vos, Chief Executive
Officer of SQS, said: "We are delighted to announce the acquisition
of Bit Media. It is important for SQS to have a strong European
presence and with Italy being the 8th largest economy in the world
and the 3rd largest in the Eurozone this acquisition expands our
geographic reach into the strategically important Italian market.
As well as giving us a considerable presence and solid platform for
further growth in Italy, the acquisition provides opportunities for
us to market our services to Bit Media's existing client base and
to provide local testing services to our existing clients in the
region.
The acquisition comes with a solid order backlog. In addition,
it will further deepen our domain expertise within the fast growing
BFSI sector which currently accounts for the majority of our
revenues. As such we are confident that Bit Media will prove a
considerable asset to SQS going forward."
Enquiries:
SQS Software Quality Systems AG Phone: +49 (0) 2203 9154-0
Diederik Vos, Chief Executive Officer
Rene Gawron, Chief Financial Officer
Canaccord Genuity - Nomad and Joint Phone: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000
Broker
Simon Bridges / Peter Stewart / Cameron
Duncan
Westhouse Securities - Joint Broker Phone: +44 (0) 20 7601 6100
Robert Finlay / Antonio Bossi
Walbrook PR Limited Phone: +44 (0)20 7933 8780
Bob Huxford bob.huxford@walbrookpr.com
Sam Allen sam.allen@walbrookpr.com
About SQS Software Quality Systems
SQS is the world's leading specialist in software quality. This
position stems from over 30 years of successful consultancy
operations. SQS consultants provide solutions for all aspects of
quality throughout the whole software product lifecycle driven by a
standardised methodology, offshore automation processes and deep
domain knowledge in various industries. Headquartered in Cologne,
Germany, the company now employs approximately 3,900 staff. SQS has
offices in Germany, the UK, Australia, Egypt, Finland, France,
India, Ireland, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria,
Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the UAE and the US.
In addition, SQS maintains a minority stake in a company in
Portugal. In 2014, SQS is expected to have generated revenues of
circa EUR268million.
SQS is the first German company to have a primary listing on
AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange. In addition,
SQS shares are also traded on the German Stock Exchange in
Frankfurt am Main.
With over 7,000 completed projects under its belt, SQS has a
strong client base, including half of the DAX 30, nearly a third of
the STOXX 50 and 20 per cent of the FTSE 100 companies. These
include, among others, Allianz, Beazley, BP, Centrica, Commerzbank,
Daimler, Deutsche Post, Generali, JP Morgan, Meteor, Reuters, UBS
and Volkswagen as well as other companies from the six key
industries on which SQS is focussed.
For more information, see www.sqs.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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