AIM-listed Cambridge company makes $17m US acquisition
4 September, 2017 - 22:07 By Tony Quested
Cambridge-based Science Group, which is quoted on AIM, is paying $17 million for Technology Sciences Group Inc, Technology Sciences (Europe) Limited and associated subsidiaries from Dentons Innovation Group US, LLC. Completion is anticipated within the next few days.
TSG provides scientific advisory and regulatory services to a diverse client base in the agricultural, chemical, consumer, cosmetic, medical device and food & beverage industries.
A deferred consideration of $0.75 million will be payable in December 2019 subject to certain conditions.
Science Group is paying for the acquisition out of existing cash resources. One-off integration costs will be incurred in the current financial year but are not anticipated to exceed £1 million.
Technology Sciences Group Inc was founded in Washington DC in 1990 and also has an office in California and Ontario, Canada.
Technology Sciences (Europe) Limited is the UK based holding company for the European operations, which opened in 2000, and now has subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Spain and Slovenia with additional offices in France, Hungary, Ireland, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
Historically, financial results have not been consolidated. In the most recent financial year, the TSG businesses reported revenue in aggregate of approx. $20.3 million and profit before tax of around $1m based on current exchange rates.
The UK and US-based businesses account for some 85 per cent of the total revenue and a similar proportion of TSG's 120 employees. Net assets at June 30 were around $3m, the majority of which was cash which will be acquired with the business.
Science Group said the acquisition was highly complementary to its existing operations – particularly the international food & beverage regulatory services in Leatherhead Food Research – strengthening the group's offerings in a number of market sectors, increasing the scale of the US operations and establishing a significant Continental European footprint.