Acquisition

RNS Number : 0531P

IDOX PLC

19 October 2012

 



19 October 2012

Idox plc

Extends Engineering Information Management business with acquisition of FMx for £5.6m

Idox plc (AIM: IDOX, 'Idox' or 'the Group'), a leading independent supplier of software & services, has acquired FMx Limited ('FMx'), a leading supplier of computer-aided facilities management ('CAFM') software, for a cash consideration of £5.6m.

FMx, through its CAFM Explorer product, provides facilities management software solutions to corporate, public and commercial real estate customers in over 30 countries.  CAFM Explorer is a comprehensive solution to manage all aspects of an operational facility including building management, maintenance, asset tracking and cost control. FMx is based in Crawley, UK where it employs 24 staff.

FMx reported revenues of £2.7m and underlying* operating profit of £0.9m in the year ended 31 March 2012**. The acquisition will be funded from Idox's cash and existing debt facilities and is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing.

FMx will be merged with Idox's existing Engineering Information Management ('EIM') division under the McLaren Software brand and management. The addition of CAFM Explorer to the Idox EIM product range extends the division's existing project collaboration solution, now enabling it to encompass the lifecycle of a building, campus or facility.  CAFM Explorer also provides the EIM division with a comprehensive solution for the estates departments of its existing asset intensive customers in Oil & Gas, Energy & Utilities and Process Manufacturing sectors.   In addition CAFM Explorer adds to the Group's offering of information and estate solutions to its local government customer base.

Richard Kellett-Clarke, CEO of Idox, said:

"This acquisition is an important step in our strategy to extend our engineering information management solutions across the full operational lifecycle of commercial real estate and operational assets.  FMx, as one of the earliest pioneers of CAFM, has an excellent reputation in the market place for delivering a flexible and functionally rich solution.   The acquisition enables us to leverage our existing global EIM sales team and customer base and also broaden our solutions available to our UK local government customers."

*Underlying operating profit is stated after stripping out vendor related costs which will not be incurred post-acquisition.

** Unaudited

Enquiries:

Idox plc	[phone]
Richard Kellett-Clarke, Chief Executive
William Edmondson, Chief Financial Officer
Investec Investment Banking	[phone]
Andrew Pinder / Patrick Robb
finnCap	[phone]
Stuart Andrews/Stephen Norcross
Leander PR	[phone]
Christian Taylor-Wilkinson

About Idox plc

Idox plc is a supplier of specialist document management collaboration solutions and services to the UK public sector and increasingly to highly regulated asset intensive industries around the world in the wider corporate sector.

Its Public Sector Software Division is the leading applications provider to UK local government for core functions relating to land, people and property, such as its market leading planning systems and election management software. Over 90% of UK local authorities are now customers. The Group provides public sector organisations with tools to manage information and knowledge, documents, content, business processes and workflow as well as connecting directly with the citizen via the web.

Through the Information Solutions Division Idox also supplies, predominantly to the public sector, decision support content such as grants and planning policy information as well as related specialist services.

The Engineering Information Management Division delivers engineering document control and project collaboration applications to many leading companies in industries such as oil & gas, architecture and construction, mining, utilities, pharmaceuticals and transportation around the world.

In addition the Group provides knowledge and content management skills to customers through its TFPL branded recruitment division.

The Group employs over 500 staff located in the UK, the USA, Europe, India and Australia.

For more information see www.idoxplc.com

About FMx Ltd

FMx Ltd provides facilities management software, solutions, expertise and knowledge to customers in over 30 countries. CAFM Explorer supports key activities including building maintenance, asset management, space planning, room & resource booking, cost control and estates management.

CAFM Explorer scalable solutions are deployable on-premise, via the web and mobile devices to support a range of user roles and responsibilities to share consistent and real time information.

For more information  www.cafmexplorer.com

 

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