Acquisition

Tribal Group PLC 19 April 2004 19 April 2004 Tribal Group plc Acquisition of Aldcliffe Computer Systems Limited Tribal Group plc ('Tribal Group') is pleased to announce the acquisition of Aldcliffe Computer Systems Limited ('Aldcliffe') for a total consideration of up to £4.46 million. Aldcliffe is a leading developer, supplier and supporter of administrative software for work-based learning (WBL) providers. WBL is the provision of practical and theoretical training to people in the work place who are pursuing vocational training and modern apprenticeships. Aldcliffe's MAYTASTM software is used to maintain trainee records and facilitate claims for government funding, principally from the Learning and Skills Council, Education and Learning Wales and Scottish Enterprise. Aldcliffe has a major share of the WBL administration market with over 300 customers and a significant proportion of the larger providers. Aldcliffe will become part of Tribal Technology, the IT division of Tribal Group. Tribal Technology is already a leading provider of management information systems to the education sector, with approximately 30% of the further education market. The acquisition of Aldcliffe will allow Tribal Technology to grow its product offering and market share in further education, particularly colleges that offer work-based learning. The initial consideration for the entire share capital of Aldcliffe of £2.66 million has been satisfied by: • £1.985 million in cash; and • the issue of 321,756 new ordinary shares of 5p each in Tribal Group plc Deferred consideration of up to £1.8 million will be paid based on the growth in operating profit of Aldcliffe in the periods ending 31 March 2007. The deferred consideration will be satisfied by the issue of new Tribal Group shares or, at Tribal Group's option, loan notes, save for the first £420,000 of deferred consideration which will be satisfied in loan notes. In the year ended 31 March 2004, Aldcliffe had a normalised operating profit of £500,000 on turnover of £1.7 million. Net assets at completion were approximately £620,000 including cash balances of approximately £600,000. Application will be made for admission of the 321,756 shares to be issued as initial consideration to trading on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange. It is expected that these shares will commence trading on the Official List on 21 April 2004. The shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing ordinary shares of 5p each in Tribal Group. The Aldcliffe vendors have given an undertaking not to sell the shares issued as initial consideration before the preliminary announcement of Tribal Group's results for the year ending 31 March 2005. Commenting on the acquisition, Henry Pitman, Chief Executive of Tribal Group, said: 'We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Aldcliffe, which will allow us to extend our range of IT products and services into the education and training sector.' For further information contact: Henry Pitman, Chief Executive - Tribal Group plc - 01285 886020 About work-based learning The Learning and Skills Council provides over £7 billion of funding per annum to support further education, sixth form colleges and work-based learning. There are over 1,100 WBL providers in the UK with an estimated annual funding requirement of approximately £1 billion. These providers include national organisations, local authorities, further education colleges and private training companies. End This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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Tribal Group (TRB)
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