Airport software firm snapped up by Scottish rival
A MANCHESTER company specialising in airport management software has been bought by the Scottish Amor Group.
Amor said its acquisition of FS Walker Hughes would give it an extra share of the global aviation market and enable it to offer a “unique end-to-end operational airport tool-kit”.
The transaction has been billed as a multi-million pound deal but the exact value was not disclosed.
FS Walker Hughes employs 25 staff and counts BAA, Manchester Airport Group and Peel Airports Group as customers.
Three directors – Ian Forde-Smith, Gary Walker and Geraint Hughes – will stay with the business and continue to develop its Chroma software suite. The company will now trade under the Amor brand.
Mr Forde-Smith said: “We already share a number of clients with Amor Group and respect what they’ve achieved in the market. We have similar innovative, can-do cultures and are looking forward working together to extend the reach and potential of our technology through this deal.”
Amor’s chief executive, John Innes, said: “This deal reflects our growth strategy of delivering sustainable organic growth augmented by complimentary acquisitions. The FS Walker Hughes acquisition delivers early mover advantage for us in the aviation business – making Amor the first provider to be able to deliver proven ‘kerb to gate’ solutions to our customers.
“The FS Walker Hughes business model was very similar to Amor’s with an emphasis on building strong recurring revenues internationally through unique IP and domain expertise.”
The vendors were advised on the deal by Ballard Evans Corporate Finance and law firm Bermans.
