Oxford Metrics Regulatory News (OMG)

26 Jul 2007 07:00

OMG PLC26 July 2007 26 July 2007 OMG plc Acquisition of Data Collection Ltd OMG plc, Oxford Metrics Group (LSE: OMG), ("OMG" or "the Group") the technologygroup providing image understanding products for the entertainment, defence,life science and engineering industries, announces that it has acquired DataCollection Ltd ("DCL" or "the Company"), one of the largest dedicated highwayssurveying companies in the UK, for a total consideration of £5m, to acceleratethe growth of its Yotta 3D mapping business. This deal comprises an initial consideration of £1,666,666 in cash, £1,666,666in OMG shares and deferred consideration of £1,666,667 in OMG shares. Theinitial cash consideration is subject to adjustment to take into account theclosing net assets position on 31 July and certain other matters. The deferredconsideration is subject to meeting minimum revenue targets of the expandedYotta division over the next two years. Application will be made for 2,515,878OMG shares, comprising the initial share consideration, to be admitted to AIM,which is expected to become effective on Wednesday 1 August 2007. Trading since 1993, DCL provides surveying services and software for road andfootway condition management, including condition assessment surveys, assetcollection services and pavement management software to highway agencies,infrastructure management groups and local authorities. This business haslong-term contracts and a broad set of customers, which include Mouchel Parkman,Atkins and Cheshire, Derbyshire and Pembrokeshire County Councils. The Companyhas offices in Bognor Regis and Leicester with a total of 68 employees. The Company's unaudited financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2007 showrevenues of £3.6m, profit before tax of £0.5m, net assets of £1.4m and cash of£0.1m. Audited financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2006 show turnoverof £3.3m and profit before tax of £0.8m. Lower profitability during the yearended 31 May 2007 is due to an increased backlog of contracts in progress at theyear end and investments in additional resources during the year in response toincreasing demand for services. The acquisition is expected to be earningsenhancing for OMG in the financial year ending 30 September 2008. The operations of DCL will be integrated with OMG's Yotta division, and renamedas Yotta DCL. OMG considers that Yotta's expertise in automated imageunderstanding will create additional business opportunities when combined withDCL's operational and market expertise in highway surveying. Nick Bolton, Chief Executive of OMG plc, said, "Data Collection's experienced team have an in-depth understanding of thehighways surveying market and their fifteen years of highways surveying andsubstantial customer base are invaluable to us. Yotta DCL can now provide themost accurate and complete highway survey available by combining DCL's marketunderstanding and operational capability with Yotta's exciting visiontechnology, which can map the precise location of each and every detail of thehighway. "We believe the enlarged business will bring substantial benefits to ourexisting customers as well as enable us to take advantage of the growing demandfor highly detailed information for highways management and intelligent mapping,thereby increasing our penetration in this growing market." Steve Batchelor, Managing Director of DCL, commented, "When we first met OMG, the appeal of their technology was immediate. Havingbeen involved in highways management all my working life, it was obvious to methe benefit their software could bring to our market. DCL has always been aboutlong-term customers and high quality execution. Because we've been highwaysengineers we know how important it is to have accurate survey information. Bycombining OMG technology with our team's knowledge and our business's marketpresence, Yotta DCL can really go places." ENDS OMG plc 01865 261800Nick Bolton, Chief ExecutivePeter Wharton, Finance Director Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113Juliet Clarke / Hannah Sloane Evolution Securities (NOMAD to OMG) 020 7071 4308Jeremy Ellis About OMG OMG plc (Oxford Metrics Group. LSE: OMG) is a group of technology companiesproducing image understanding solutions for the entertainment, defence, lifescience and engineering industries. Be it for capturing the movements of actors(for the movie industry), sportsmen (for video games or improving teamperformance), children with Cerebral Palsy, rehab patients and animals (formedical, life science and research industries) or virtual reality displays (forengineering and development), the Group has the world leading market positionand a strong international reputation for precision instruments. Founded in 1984, the Group's headquarters are in Oxford, UK, and it has officesin California and Colorado, USA. It has customers in over 50 countries and is aquoted company listed on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange.The Group trades through three operating subsidiaries - Vicon, the world'sbiggest motion capture and movement analysis company, 2d3, a manufacturer ofspecialised image understanding software for entertainment and defenceapplications and Yotta, our 3D mapping business. Oxford Metrics' global clients in science, medicine, sport, engineering, gaming,film and broadcast include major hospitals and research facilities such as Guy'sHospital, Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Loughborough University, engineeringindustry leaders including Ford Motor Company, BMW, Airbus, Caterpillar, andToyota, and in the entertainment sector, Sony, Industrial Light and Magic, TheMoving Picture Company (MPC), Sega, Nintendo, UbiSoft, EA, Square Enix and manyothers. For more information about OMG and its subsidiaries, visit www.omg3d.com,www.vicon.com, www.2d3.com or www.yotta.tv About Yotta Launched in 2007, Yotta is the new name for Geospatial Vision. Yotta istransforming the way we map the world, thanks to the intelligent use of GPStechnology and highly sophisticated cameras. Our technology earned its stripesin the motion capture and match moving sectors where it is the market leader andhas won many prestigious awards. Yotta captures street-level images andautomatically extracts the precise locations of street signs, traffic lights,road markings, drainage points and every other aspect of roadside informationwhile simultaneously identifying them. Yotta is changing the way we look at the world around us by extracting tinydetails from massive datasets - Yotta mapping the world one pixel at a time. About Data Collection Limited Data Collection Limited is a specialist surveying and software company for roadand footway condition management. The company provides condition assessmentsurveys, asset collection services and UKPMS compliant software to HighwayAuthorities. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange