Acquisition

RNS Number : 6499F

QinetiQ Group plc

13 October 2008

 



13 October 2008

QinetiQ strengthens its consultancy business with acquisition of Commerce Decisions 

QinetiQ Group plc announces today that it has acquired Commerce Decisions Ltd, a market-leading provider of tender assessment and management software.  

Under the terms of the agreement, QinetiQ will acquire 100 per cent of the equity of Commerce Decisions for a total cash consideration of £9.85m. 

Commerce Decisions is a privately-owned, venture capital-backed company with 38 highly skilled employees based in Oxford. Its AWARD tender evaluation software supports the tender assessment and management process for both buyers and suppliers. AWARD ensures procurers make the right buying decision by improving the effectiveness of the evaluation process and providing an audit trail for decisions. For suppliers, AWARD maximises their win-potential by improving the quality of bids.  

In addition to licence sales of the AWARD software, Commerce Decisions offers secure hosting, consultancy, training and maintenance services. 

Commerce Decisions' existing clients include most UK central government departments, the National Health Service and local authorities. The AWARD software is already the most used tender evaluation software in the UK Ministry of Defence. The acquisition brings significant additional sales opportunities for AWARD through QinetiQ's existing sales channels in EMEA and North America.  

Commenting on the acquisition, Clive Richardson, COO of QinetiQ EMEA said: 'Commerce Decisions' expertise in complex assessment strengthens QinetiQ's consulting offering and complements our portfolio in capability definition and acquisition support. I am delighted to welcome their management team and employees to QinetiQ and am confident they will make a significant contribution to the continued growth of our advisory business.'

ENDS 

For further information please contact:

David Bishop, Media Relations	[phone]
Ben Lewis, Investor Relations	[phone]

Notes for Editors: 

QinetiQ (pronounced 'kinetic') is a leading international defence and security technology company with over 8,000 employees in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Australasia) and more than 5,500 in North America. QinetiQ's vision is to be the world's leading provider of defence and security based technology solutions and services. In February 2006, QinetiQ Group plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange and joined the FTSE250 in June 2006. In the year to 31 March 2008, QinetiQ delivered a 19 per cent increase in revenue to £1,366m, including organic growth of 8.6 per cent, and a 20 per cent increase in underlying operating profit to £127m. Underlying earnings per share increased by 19% to 13.4p per share.

 

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