Bryan, Garnier & Co advises Sword Group on the sale of CTSpace to Idox PLC
London, November 21, 2011 - Bryan, Garnier & Co, the pan-European investment bank focused on growth companies, announces that it has acted as sole financial advisor to Sword Group on the sale of its CTSpace subsidiary to IDOX plc (AIM: IDOX) for £11.6 million in cash.
Headquartered in London, CTSpace provides electronic content management, workflow collaboration and project management applications for the construction and engineering industries through both software-as-a-service (SaaS) and on premise enterprise solutions. CTSpace customers include well known companies such as ArcelorMittal, BP, GE, Hitachi, GDF Suez, Shell, Transport for London and Veolia.
In 2011, in addition to the sale of CT Space, Bryan, Garnier & Co has advised Sword Group on the successful disposals of its software businesses in insurance and financial transaction and payment filtering. Sword Group will continue to concentrate on its core professional services business, as well as the customer relationship management (CRM) and wholesale finance software sectors.
Jacques Mottard, Executive Chairman of Sword Group, said: "I am pleased to announce the disposal of Sword CTSpace. Not only does this serve to focus the Sword Group around our key markets but I also believe this to be an excellent development for CTSpace and Idox."
Commenting on the acquisition Richard Kellett-Clarke, IDOX CEO, said: "With CTSpace, and the prior acquisition of McLaren Software, we are well on our way to building a global engineering document management and control operation. We are confident that this business will match the scale and performance of our UK local authority business."
"This transaction is an excellent fit for IDOX and CT Space. We are delighted to have advised on a third disposal for Sword this year," said David Roberts, Managing Director at Bryan, Garnier & Co, who led the advisory team.
Speaking about the transaction, Bruno Tourme, Managing Partner and Head of the Technology Group at Bryan Garnier, added: "This is the seventh software M&A transaction for Bryan Garnier this year and demonstrates our ability to provide strong, practical advice to European software companies as they move to the next stage in their lifecycles."
Bryan, Garnier & Co has advised, amongst other software companies, Jobpartners and Metrologic on their respective sales to Taleo and Carlyle, and Sword for the sale of both Sword Insurance to TH Lee, and Fircosoft to R Capital.
For more information, please contact:
- Bruno Tourme / Managing Partner / +44 207 332 2551 / btourme@bryangarnier.com
- David Roberts / Managing Director / +44 207 332 2545 / droberts@bryangarnier.com
- Marie Kluth / Director / +44 207 332 2539 / mkluth@bryangarnier.com
About CTSpace: www.sword-ctspace.com
Sword CTSpace provides document management & collaboration workflow applications for the construction and engineering industry that increase the efficiency and reduce the risks in managing a built asset throughout its entire lifecycle.
About IDOX plc: www.idoxgroup.com
Idox group is a leading developer and supplier of software solutions and information services to UK local government. The company also supplies information solutions to the private, voluntary and charitable sectors in the UK, mainland Europe and US.
About Bryan, Garnier & Co
Bryan, Garnier & Co is an independent investment bank specialising in European TMT, Healthcare and Renewable Energies growth companies. Bryan, Garnier & Co is positioned in three activities: Equity Research & Brokerage, Asset Management and Corporate Finance.
With more than 120 professionals based in London, Paris, New York and Geneva, Bryan, Garnier & Co combines the range of services and the expertise of top-tier investment banks with the level of attention to clients of a boutique.
Through its corporate finance practice, Bryan, Garnier & Co has became a leader in advising European growth companies on strategic finance transactions such as mergers & acquisitions, equity capital market, LBOs and private placement over the last three years.
Bryan, Garnier & Co is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the United Kingdom, and is member of London Stock Exchange and Euronext, Alternext Listing Sponsor, and is active on all European capital markets.