Acquisition

12th May 2008 06:00

12th May 2008 OpSec Security Group plc ("the Company" or "OpSec") Acquisition of P4M GmbH OpSec Security Group plc, the supplier of anti-counterfeiting technologies and services, is pleased to announce it has acquired the entire share capital of P4M Partners 4 Management GmbH, ("P4M") for a cash consideration of up to €10.2 million (approximately £8 million). The consideration will consist of an up front payment of €4.2 million and an earn-out (capped at €6.0 million) equal to six times P4M's increase in EBITDA for the year ending 31st December 2008. The acquisition is being financed from the Group's new facility with The Royal Bank of Scotland. P4M is a leading provider of online brand protection and monitoring services in Europe which enable brand owners to detect illegal distribution of digital media, identify counterfeit and grey market goods on e-commerce sites, and measure online brand image and customer satisfaction. P4M currently serves 65 major brands including Bayer HealthCare, Fujifilm, Hewlett Packard, Lacoste, Samsung and Warner Brothers. P4M has 16 employees based in Munich, Germany. It was formed in 2000 and has enjoyed considerable growth in both its turnover and profitability. Its accounts for the year ended 31st December 2007 showed turnover of €1.7 million and a profit after taxation of €158,000. Further growth is expected in the year to 31st December 2008 and management expect the acquisition to be slightly earnings enhancing in the current year. The balance sheet at 31st December 2007 showed net assets of €373,000. Commenting on the acquisition Mark Turnage, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to have agreed terms to acquire the business of P4M. The acquisition represents a major step forward for our brand protection business. We now provide the industry's most comprehensive solution for integrated offline and online brand protection across the entire product lifecycle. OpSec's technologies enable companies to combat product counterfeiting, grey market diversion, digital piracy, intellectual property infringements, channel corruption, brand image abuses, and domain name theft on the Internet. "The acquisition of P4M extends our capabilities specifically in three key areas: anti-piracy to protect unauthorised distribution of digital content; brand monitoring to provide customer and market intelligence; and channel management to analyse online sales strategies. P4M's complementary product offerings, team of Internet agents, European management team and client base make it a natural addition which will further strengthen OpSec's global brand protection strategy." - ends - Enquiries: OpSec Security Group plc: 0191 417 5434 Mike Angus, Finance Director Mark Turnage, Chief Executive Oriel Securities Limited: 0207 710 7600 Andrew Edwards/Neil Langford Weber Shandwick Financial: 020 7067 0700 Nick Oborne/Stephanie Badjonat ENDACQUKOVRWURVRAR

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