Fusion Corporate Partners

Bglobal plc (AIM: BGBL), the smart metering and energy data company,  has acquired the entire issued share capital of Utiligroup, a provider of energy data management and process solutions to companies operating in the energy and utilities sectors, for a maximum consideration of up to £12.8 million. The deal completed in June 2010.

Bglobal are financing the deal through a £6.5 million placing and raised approximately a £1.5 million open offer of 17,785,547 new ordinary shares at a price of 38p each.

Utiligroup has three principal wholly owned trading subsidiaries:

• Utilisoft, one of the UK’s leading providers of energy data management and process solutions to companies operating in the energy and utilities sector;
• Utilisoft Australia, an established supplier of software solutions to the energy and utilities sector in Australia and Singapore; and 
• Utiliserve, which offers managed service and IT application outsourcing capabilities to utility companies.

The maximum consideration payable is £12.8 million to be satisfied by:

• An initial consideration of £5.3 million, to be satisfied by £4.3 million in cash and £1.0 million worth of new Shares issued at 43p each. 
• A performance consideration of up to £7.5 million, dependent on the trading performance of Utiligroup in the year ending 31 March 2011, to be satisfied by up to £4.125 million in cash and up to £3.375 million in new Shares.

Commenting, Tony Barnes, Chief Executive of Bglobal said: “Utiligroup is the UK’s leading energy data software specialist and together with smart metering leader Bglobal Metering we are creating the UK’s premier energy data solutions business positioned to deliver the full end-to-end smart energy solutions that our UK customers and markets all over the World are beginning to demand.

“Even before the widespread domestic roll out of smart meters in the UK, smart metering is driving the creation of innovative new business models and Bglobal is positioning itself to lead in these opportunities.

“Whist the focus to date has been the logistical effort of meter exchange, the growing challenge facing the industry in our view is the management and application of vast and continuous flows of smart meter data and the requirement to build entirely new types of information systems to process it.

“Government policy and sustainability agendas are driving Britain towards the Smart Grid and as customers start generating their own energy and expect to be paid for doing so, companies who quickly deliver customers with products that support the transition to a low carbon economy are most likely to gain advantage.

“The enlarged Group’s strategy is to create a full service, end-to-end smart energy value chain of products, services and new software applications which will help to build Britain’s low carbon, smart energy future.

“This acquisition places the Group in a strong position to capitalise on these opportunities. With nearly 230 expert staff, an international customer base and operations in the UK and Australia we are confident the expanded Group has the expertise, experience, knowledge and reach to realise our vision of making energy count for our customers in the UK and Globally.”

John Furness, Managing Director of Utiligroup, said: “Being part of Bglobal plc provides Utiligroup with a wonderful opportunity not only to extend the reach of our software solutions and service businesses, but also to play a part in building compelling end-to-end deliverables with Bglobal Metering, harnessing the expertise of both organisations. This union will accelerate the growth of Utiligroup, from both the UK and Australian bases, in ways we could not have achieved without the strength of Bglobal plc, and we look forward to our role in a major force that will build a smart energy world.”

Location: UK, Lancashire