Sanderson strengthens in e-commerce market following £5m+ acquisition
COVENTRY-based software and IT services group Sanderson has continued down the acquisition trail. It has bought rival One iota for up to £5.43m.
Sanderson has also placed more than 6m new shares in an attempt to raise £3.5m.
The acquisition of cloud-based, retail solutions business One iota – based in Rossendale, Lancashire – follows the £600,000 purchase of Rugby e-commerce firm Catan Marketing in August.
It has bought One iota through its subsidiary, Sanderson Multi-Channel Solutions.
One iota provides cloud-based, multi-channel solutions via mobile, tablet and in-store devices.
For the year ended 31 January 2013, One iota had unaudited turnover of £0.66m (2012: £0.50m) and profit before tax of £0.195m (2012: £0.158m). At 31 January 2013, its net assets were £0.85m.
For the seven months ended 31 August 2013, it had unaudited turnover of £0.61m and profit before tax of £0.21m.
The firm has developed a proprietary cloud-based modular technology platform called MESH.
MESH enables the delivery of enterprise grade solutions across its key offerings which span mobile commerce, ecommerce, social media and a range of in-store
technology.
It is used by some of the UK’s leading retailers to power their multi-channel retail solutions, hosting thousands of visitors on a daily basis, and securely processing large volumes of transactions.
One iota is currently working with retailers including Littlewoods; Very.co.uk; Footasylum; and SuperDry.
Sanderson chairman Christopher Winn said: “We are delighted to welcome the One iota team, led by Damian Hanson and David Hague into the Sanderson Group.
“Following the acquisition of Catan Marketing Limited in August 2013, the One iota acquisition further strengthens the company’s position in the rapidly expanding mobile enabled e-commerce and online sales markets.”
The final price paid by Sanderson will depend on performance.
