04 Jun 2012

ICON advises AIM listed SaaS business, Atlantic Global Plc, on its sale to US based KeyedIn Solutions.

Atlantic Global has developed world-class, cloud-based, SaaS solutions that help businesses plan, resource and manage complex projects and enterprise transformation programmes. The company’s customers include: Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Kingston Communications and Serco.

KeyedIn Solutions is a US-based SaaS company founded by IT entrepreneurs George and Lauri Klaus, who were part of the executive leadership team at Epicor. Epicor was sold last year for nearly $1billion. KeyedIn Solutions helps companies maximise their assets to streamline workflow, increase efficiency and save money with full-featured, easy-to-use, centrally hosted online applications for enterprise resource planning.

Commenting on the acquisition, KeyedIn Solutions, CEO, Lauri Klaus said: “This is KeyedIn’s first Plc purchase. In terms of the complementary skills of both organisations, the stage that the company had reached in the business cycle, their products and customers, it's a perfect fit for us."

James Waterhouse, Managing Director of KeyedIn Solutions (UK) said: "The Atlantic Global product suite provides an essential set of tools for any business running high capital or business critical projects. Together with our consulting offer, we now provide a complete risk management and compliance solution that will transform the way our customers deliver successful business change."

Commenting on how this fits into the overall product strategy, Waterhouse added: "KeyedIn products bring a new flexibility to the enterprise software marketplace, replacing the 'one size fits all' approach. We are offering agile, cloud-based SaaS solutions that can be implemented by a wide range of businesses, from SMEs to larger enterprises, as and when they're needed, quickly delivering value."

Former Atlantic Global CEO Eugene Blaine, who will remain with the company to head up its technology operation, commented: “The team at Atlantic Global has created a world-class solution that has been adopted by some of the largest companies around the globe. The synergies between what Atlantic Global needed to drive the next phase in our expansion and what the KeyedIn team offered was startling. Bringing together our world-class products with the international sales and marketing experience of the KeyedIn team made this a compelling proposition for our employees, customers and shareholders.”

The new owners have committed to keeping the company in Yorkshire, significantly growing the UK team, and undertaking a major investment programme, which will see its software on sale worldwide.

ICON was appointed in September 2011 to find a suitable acquirer of the company. Following an International auction process, KeyedIn Solutions was selected as the preferred buyer of Atlantic Global. The deal was concluded within five months; the offer price at 22pence a share represents a 76 per cent premium to the share price prior to the commencement of the offer period valuing Atlantic Global at $8million.