Promotions group announces US acquisition in all-cash deal
Pebble Group, the Stretford-based corporate promotions specialist, announced a $5.3m takeover today.
It said its Facilisgroup business has acquired software assets from CoreXpand, a US-based software developer, in an all-cash deal.
The acquisition will expand the services offered by Facilisgroup through its ecommerce platform via another robust technology solution, allowing for the easy development of e-stores ranging from online pop-up shops through to complex inventoried online stores for existing and potential partners (customers).
The expanded suite of technologies further enhance Facilisgroup’s credentials, amongst entrepreneurial and growing businesses in the North American promotional products industry, as a leading provider of ecommerce platform services which help businesses manage and grow their operations effectively.
And the Pebble board believes the addition of such technology has the potential to significantly expand the subscription services utilised by existing partners, plus support the attraction of new partners to the Facilisgroup platform.
The software assets acquired comprise two separate products.
The first, full intellectual property rights on software which supports online pop-up shops. The second, an in-perpetuity licence with exclusivity in the global promotional products industry, for software which supports the customer-facing element of complex inventory online stores.
Together, these products accelerate the delivery to market a strong Facilisgroup e-stores solution.
The cash consideration of $5.3m is being funded through cash flow generated by Facilisgroup, with $1.8m of this deferred and payable over the next 18 months.
In addition to the consideration, up to $2m of in-house development time is expected to be capitalised in 2021 evolving the acquired assets, expanding their capabilities and building the back-office element of the complex inventory online stores.
The resultant product offering is expected to begin generating revenue by the end of the first half of 2021, with a full suite of product capabilities expected to be in market in the first half of 2022.
Facilisgroup’s vision is to become the ecommerce leader in the promotional products industry.
The growth strategy has three clear points of focus:
- Responsibly increasing partner numbers, ensuring partner quality remains high and the community relationships Pebble creates with its partners and suppliers remain strong;
- Developing additional income streams that augment the benefits available to existing partners and suppliers; and
- Developing technology and strong industry relationships to offer an adaptation of the group’s existing services to industry entrepreneurs in the early stage of their business development.
In a trading update today, Pebble said the group continues to trade positively and in line with current market expectations for fiscal year 2020, as announced on November 26, 2020.
