Cobent Limited announced the acquisition of Cobent by compliance SaaS specialists, Access Intelligence PLC. With 50% of customers already buying the software as a service, Cobent compliments Access Intelligence's existing exposure to both compliance and Software-as-a-Service ("SaaS") solutions. Howard Sears and Tony Dillon, the CEO and COO respectively, will join the Access Intelligence Group.
Cobent's Learning Compliance Suite provides on-demand, hosted training and compliance software into the pharmaceuticals, financial services and retail sectors. The core product is a learning management system with a built-in compliance audit trail. The software is used to train and monitor employees' competence and compliance with the appropriate regulations in a specific sector. Customers include: Eli Lilly, The United Nations, Aviva, Barclays, DSG and Ladbrokes.
The consideration for Cobent of £5.2 million comprises 33,333,333 million Ordinary Shares in Access Intelligence, issued at 6p per Ordinary Share and £3.0 million in cash. This gives an average issue price per share of 5.4p. In addition there will be deferred consideration of up to £200,000 dependent on certain performance conditions.
Michael Jackson, Access Intelligence's Executive Chairman, commented:
"Cobent offers a 'Best of Breed' compliance training platform in highly defensive markets. Cobent has a strong management team with specialist knowledge in delivering compliance solutions into FDA, FSA and HSE regulated markets.
The acquisition is in line with our plans to focus Access Intelligence as a provider of compliance solutions via software as a service. Cobent has good synergies with our existing businesses and we look forward to leveraging the significant expertise of the team in other Group companies.
The Cobent Learning Compliance Suite offers a strong bedrock on which to build a dynamic and competitive compliance proposition, providing us with growing revenues and increasing visibility in a defensive market."
Howard Sears, CEO added, "We are naturally delighted with this announcement. The extensive synergies between Cobent and Access Intelligence will enable us to grow rapidly together and position ourselves at the forefront of compliance software solutions globally."
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