LONDON (Alliance News) - ATTRAQT Group PLC on Wednesday said it is acquiring software-as-a-service platform provider Early Birds SAS for EUR15.9 million through a mix of cash and shares.
ATTRAQT - itself a software-as-a-service company - said it has conditionally raised GBP17.1 million via a 63.3 million share placing. The placing is priced at 27.0 pence per share and will be used to fund the cash component.
The placing price is a 1.9% premium to ATTRAQT's 26.50p closing price on Tuesday. On Wednesday afternoon, shares in ATTRAQT were up 5.7% at 28.00p.
ATTRAQT said the EUR15.9 million price for Early Birds is equivalent to around GBP13.8 million, of which GBP11.0 million will be paid in cash and GBP2.8 million via shares.
Early Birds has 69 customers in over 28 countries and its artificial intelligence-powered platform lets online retailers "personalise their offering to individual customers". This pairs well with ATTRAQT, whose software-as-a-service offering is also focused on online shopping.
In 2018, Early Birds posted revenue of EUR2.3 million, up from EUR1.4 million in 2017. Its annual recurring revenue was EUR3.6 million, up from EUR2.0 million in 2017. In March 2019, Early Birds recorded annual recurring revenue of EUR3.6 million and it is targeting EUR4.9 million by the end of 2019.
"We are pleased to announce the proposed acquisition of Early Birds, a leading AI-driven personalisation platform. Combining our two businesses will enable the company to orchestrate the entire shopper experience for our clients using a single solution, delivering increased conversion rates, greater productivity from the retailers' online visual merchandising teams and greater flexibility to respond to trends. Importantly, the acquisition will accelerate Attraqt's existing strategic roadmap, positioning us well with both existing and potential customers," said ATTRAQT Chief Executive Luke McKeever.
McKeever has subscribed for 370,370 new ATTRAQT shares in the placing, which will be his entire holding as is equivalent to a 0.21% stake.
Eric Dodd, the company's chief financial officer, has subscribed for 92,592 shares. As with McKeever, this is his entire holding in ATTRAQT. The shares are equivalent to a 0.05% stake.
Chair Nick Habgood has subscribed for 6.7 million shares via Azini 3 LLP, a private equity fund managed by Azini Capital. Habgood is managing partner of Azini Capital Partners LLP and a partner in Azini 3(FP)LP, giving him an indirect interest. Following admission, Azini 3 LLP will hold 23.9 million shares or a 13% stake in ATTRAQT.
