The Sage Group plc (”Sage”) announces that it has agreed to acquire ACCPAC International Inc. (“ACCPAC”), a subsidiary of Computer Associates International Inc., based in California, for an equity value of £62.5 million. ACCPAC has net cash of £2.3 million, giving an enterprise value of £60.2 million. The acquisition will be paid for in cash. It is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete by the end of February 2004.
ACCPAC is a vendor of a suite of business management solutions including accounting and customer relationship management (CRM) software for small and medium-sized businesses (“SMEs”). ACCPAC has over 140,000 larger SME customers, notably in the US, Canada, South Africa, Australia and Singapore. ACCPAC also serves 400,000 small SMEs, predominantly in Canada. It serves these markets through a network of over 7,000 channel partners.
ACCPAC’s revenue for the year ended 31 March 2003 was £50.4 million, and its operating profit was £5.9 million. It had net assets of £4.7million.
The acquisition of ACCPAC will establish Sage with a market-leading position in Canada. It will also strengthen Sage’s position in the important US market for larger SMEs. ACCPAC also has businesses in Australia and South Africa, which will complement Sage’s existing operations, and a strong position in Singapore providing an entry into the Asian markets. ACCPAC’s CRM offering includes an internet-hosted solution, which will complement Sage’s desktop solutions.
Paul Walker, Sage Chief Executive, commented, “Acquiring ACCPAC has not only strengthened our North American market position by establishing a position in Canada, but has added to our product offering in the Southern Hemisphere. In addition, ACCPAC’s internet-based CRM offering extends the options available to those of our customers seeking to purchase front-office solutions. ACCPAC will add value to our existing businesses by strengthening their competitive positions. Our own customer service and marketing expertise will enable us to sell more software and services to ACCPAC’s large customer base”.
