(Alliance News) - CentralNic Group PLC on Wednesday said it has entered an agreement to buy MA Aporia Ltd for up to USD20 million.
CentralNic is a London-based online services provider. Aporia is a technology company operating in the social media and native advertising fields.
Under the terms of the agreement, CentralNic will pay an initial USD11.2 million in cash. The sellers of Aporia may earn a further USD7.8 million, which will be payable over a performance period until and including 2024.
"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," CentralNic explained.
In 2021, Aporia generated USD35 million revenue, USD3.5 million gross profit and USD2 million earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
The company expects 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, CentralNic explained.
Chief Executive Ben Crawford 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."
Shares in CentralNic were up 2.1% to 117.90 pence each in London on Wednesday around midday.
By Sophie Rose; sophierose@alliancenews.com
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