Disposal

RNS Number : 9991X

Sage Group PLC

15 February 2013

 



15 February 2013

Sage continues to focus its business through non-core disposals

The Sage Group plc ("Sage") announces it has reached agreement to sell seven non-core products for an aggregate price of £93.4m (the "Non-Core Disposals"), of which £81.9m is payable in cash on completion.  The cash proceeds will be returned to shareholders.  Sage will record a loss on disposal following completion of the transaction.

The Non-Core Disposals comprise the sale of three products managed from North America (Sage ACT!, Sage SalesLogix and the Sage Nonprofit Solutions product suite) and four product suites in Europe (C&I, ATL, Automotive and Aytos).

Guy Berruyer, Chief Executive, commented:

"The sale of these non-core products is consistent with our strategy of focusing our business to accelerate growth and demonstrates significant progress in streamlining the portfolio, allowing regional management to focus on the considerable growth opportunities within their core markets."

Enquiries

The Sage Group plc [phone]

Guy Berruyer, Chief Executive Officer

Paul Harrison, Chief Financial Officer

Murdo Montgomery, Investor Relations

Tulchan Communications [phone]

David Shriver

Lucy Legh

Transaction details

In North America, Sage has reached definitive agreement to sell the trade and assets of Sage ACT! and Sage SalesLogix, the two international CRM products identified as non-core, to Swiftpage, and the trade and assets of Sage Nonprofit Solutions, Sage's vertical software solutions for not-for-profit organisations, to Accel-KKR.  The consideration is $101.2m (£64.8m*) in aggregate, of which $91.2m (£58.4m*) is payable in cash on completion.  In addition, Sage is receiving a $3m (£1.9m*) seller note from Swiftpage and $7m (£4.5m*) in the form of a 16.1% equity stake in Swiftpage^.  As at 30 September 2012, the related gross assets were £243.1m* and EBITA for the year ended 30 September 2012 was £4.8m^#.

In Europe, Sage has received a binding offer from Argos Soditic for the sale of C&I, ATL and Automotive in France and Aytos in Spain.  The sale requires prior approval from the French Works Council in accordance with French law.  The agreed consideration is €33.2m (£28.6m*) of which €27.2m (£23.4m*) is payable in cash on completion.

*Translation based on the closing exchange rate on 14 February 2013 of €1.16/£1 and $1.56/£1

^For the purposes of LR10.4.1(i) the seller note and equity stake in Swiftpage will be retained

^#EBITA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, amortisation of acquired intangibles, acquisition-related items and imputed interest

About Sage

The Sage Group plc is a leading global provider of business management software to small and medium sized companies, creating greater freedom for them to succeed. Sage understands how and why each business is unique. We provide products and services that suit varying needs, are a pleasure to use and are secure and efficient. Formed in 1981, Sage was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989. Sage has over 6 million customers and more than 13,500 employees in 24 countries covering the UK & Ireland, mainland Europe, North America, South Africa, Australia, Asia and Brazil. For further information please visit www.sage.com.

 

END

 

 

DISNKPDDDBKDFBD