SEC to buy Polish PR firm Martis Consulting for €1.04m

(ShareCast News) - AIM-listed Italian PR agency SEC is to buy a 60% stake in a smaller Polish agency, Martis Consulting for €1.04m, as part of its strategy to build a group of independently run consultancies.Martis' existing management, who will hold the minority stake after the acquisition, will continue to run the business, which is part of the company's strategy to build a group of independent consultancies who are encouraged to retain their culture in order to set them apart from the competition rather than a network of similar agencies.The acquisition is conditional on the spin-off of real estate, securities and bank loans previously held by Martis to a new company, as SEC is only buying the remainder of the assets and liabilities.The deal also allows the minority shareholders to exchange their shares in Martis for shares in SEC, which floated on AIM in July, at any time.Martis has clients in various sectors including oil and gas, energy and environment, financial services, health, housing, justice and legal, as well as property development and transport.In the year ended December 2015, Martis had total assets of €2.2m, turnover of €1.6m and made a pre-tax profit of €285,620.