UK B2B telco Daisy Group is set to acquire local audio-conferencing specialist Worldwide Group Holdings for an enterprise value of £28m (US$44.6m).
According to Daisy, the transaction will compliment its existing portfolio and will bolster its…
UK B2B telco Daisy Group is set to acquire local audio-conferencing specialist Worldwide Group Holdings for an enterprise value of £28m (US$44.6m).
According to Daisy, the transaction will compliment its existing portfolio and will bolster its current communications products. For the year to 31 December 2011, Worldwide posted revenues and EBITDA of £36.4m (US$58m) and £4m (US6.4m), respectively.
“Worldwide represents a strong strategic fit and clear growth opportunity for the group,” explained Daisy CEO Matthew Riley.
“Its audio-conferencing solution creates a new revenue stream for Daisy, whilst driving further cross selling opportunities into our existing customer base and providing Worldwide’s customers with access to the group’s full portfolio.”
The initial cash consideration is being financed through an extension to Daisy’s existing credit facility, and the offer could be increased further based on EBITDA growth over an agreed earn-out period.
This facility, which previously totalled £115m (US$183m) and funded a spate of acquisitions for Daisy around a year ago, has been extended to an undisclosed amount with the addition of RBS to the existing group of four lenders: Barclays, Lloyds, Yorkshire Bank and HSBC.
Daisy declined to comment on the amount of cash that would remain in this facility following its Worldwide acquisition, or its terms.
Last July, CFO Steve Smith told TelecomFinance that the company planned to shift its focus to fewer and larger acquisitions after a raft of small deals in the previous two years.
At the time, he said Daisy had used up most of its £115m ‘war chest’, although it planned to remain acquisitive, with possible targets in the systems maintenance and mobile services sectors.
Daisy’s last acquisition was in April 2011, when it acquired two wholly-owned data and managed services divisions of IT provider Niu Solutions for £15.4m (US$25m).
Daisy posted £176m (US$281m) in revenue and £26.6m (US$42m) in adjusted EBITDA in unaudited results for the six months to 30 September 2011. It posted £120m (US$191m) in revenue and £16.1m (US$26m) in adjusted EBITDA for the corresponding period in 2010.
