GBGroup to Acquire Postcode Anywhere (Holdings) Ltd. (“PCA Predict”)

GBG (AIM:GBG), the Identity Data Intelligence specialist, is pleased to announce that it has conditionally agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital of PCA Predict, a provider of UK and International address validation and data quality services, for a total consideration of £73,852,423 (the “Acquisition”) which includes £10,387,000 of cash on the balance sheet of PCA Predict. The combination represents a highly complementary capability set alongside GBG’s existing solutions: GBG Matchcode360 and GBG Loqate.

Acquisition highlights

PCA Predict provides scale to position GBG as a leader of UK and International address validation and data quality services, a fundamental component of GBG’s Identity Data Intelligence proposition.
PCA Predict is an easy to deploy SaaS solution adopted by over 9,000 SME customers while GBG Loqate serves channel customers and GBG Matchcode360 is orientated towards enterprise customers.
PCA Predict is highly complementary with GBG and opens immediate upsell opportunities.
PCA Predict’s UK and International address validation technology fits within GBG Loqate and GBG Matchcode360 infrastructure.
The Acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in the first 12 months of consolidated GBG ownership at a level in the high single digit percentages.
The Acquisition is conditional, inter alia, upon Admission.

Placing highlights

The £73,852,423 total consideration will be satisfied by the vendor placing of £58,000,000 in Placing Shares and £15,852,423 in cash of which £10,000,000 is to be held in escrow.
The Company intends to finance the £73,852,423 total consideration for the Acquisition through, the vendor placing of £58,000,000 in Placing Shares, £5,852,423 in existing cash and £10,000,000 borrowings under bank facilities.
The Placing is being conducted through an accelerated book build process which will be launched immediately. The book build will open with immediate effect following this Announcement.
The Placing Price represents a discount of approximately 3.4 per cent to the closing mid-market price of GBG’s existing ordinary shares of 352 pence on 8 May 2017, being the last practicable date before this announcement.
It is expected that, if all 17,058,824 Placing Shares are issued, they will represent approximately 12.7 per cent of the Company’s existing issued share capital.
The Placing is conditional, inter alia, upon Admission.
Further details of the Placing are set out in the appendix to this announcement.

Chris Clark CEO of GBG, commented: “I am delighted to announce the acquisition of PCA Predict. Bringing together PCA Predict’s easy to deploy SaaS platform with our existing in depth GBG Identity Data Intelligence data sets creates a leader in Address Data Intelligence. There is a strong strategic and cultural fit in combining the capabilities of PCA Predict and GBG which will bring significant benefit to our customers. The Board and I are looking forward to the future success of GBG and PCA Predict.”