2nd May 2006 07:01
@UK PLC02 May 2006 Under embargo until 7:00am 2 May 2006 @UK PLC ("@UK") Acquisition of Coding International Limited @UK PLC, (AIM: ATUK.L) a leading provider of software solutions that facilitateeCommerce and eProcurement, today announces that it has agreed terms for theacquisition of Coding International Limited ("Coding") which provides codingservices for use in procurement, including the coding of products which arepurchased by it's public sector clients. Coding, which is based in Southampton,has 6 employees and has developed the National Supply Vocabulary ("NSV") codingsystem used by a number of public sector bodies and agencies. Users include:Manchester City Council; The Inland Revenue; the London Borough of Barnet;Government Procurement Agency (N.I.); the States of Jersey and some HealthBoards in the Republic of Ireland. NSV now includes codes and item descriptionsfor approximately 500,000 products and services. For the year ended 30 September 2005, Coding had turnover of £148,000 and brokeeven. The net liabilities being acquired as part of the acquisition were £5,000as at 30 September 2005. The consideration for the acquisition includes aninitial payment of £50,000, of which £25,000 is payable in cash and £25,000 willbe met by the issue of 42,015 shares at a valuation of 59.5p per share. Deferredpayments of up to £25,000 per year, to be satisfied in @UK shares, will bepayable, dependent on performance for the years ended 31 December 2006 and 31December 2007. The Board has become aware, increasingly, of the importance of coding to itspublic sector service offering and believes that the acquisition of a codingcapability is a vital strategic step in the development of the business. Codingand @UK are already co-operating on a number of projects which, it isanticipated, will lead to a significant increase in Coding's revenues goingforward. Consequently the Board anticipates that the acquisition will beearnings enhancing in its first full year. Coding is owned (95%) currently by Mr Terry Ashmore and Mrs Christine Ashmore.Mr Ashmore is the Managing Director of the company and, post the acquisition,will continue to hold this position. Coding will be a wholly owned subsidiary of@UK Plc. Lyn Duncan, Chief Executive of @UK Plc commented: "We are very pleased that our first acquisition since coming to AIM in December2005, is of such strategic importance. The coding of products is an essentialtool in enabling our clients to demonstrate visibly the savings which arerequired by Government as outlined in the Gershon report. We are confident thatnot only will the acquisition be earnings enhancing but will also increasesignificantly the depth and breadth of the @UK service offering to the publicsector." For further information please contact: @UK PLC +44 (0) 118 963 7000Lyn Duncan Managing DirectorJohn Aiken Finance Director Shore Capital +44 (0) 151 600 3700Mike Sawbridge Smithfield +44 (0) 20 7360 4900Sara MusgraveTania Wild Notes to Editors: eCommerce can be defined as the buying and selling of products and services overthe internet. eProcurement is the particular process by which largeorganisations carry out their purchasing using eCommerce. @UK offers a uniquesolution within the field of eCommerce/eProcurement. Using its online network,public sector bodies such as local authorities, schools and hospitals andprivate sector enterprises can buy online from small to medium enterprises(SMEs), as well as larger suppliers. At the same time those suppliers generallyset up a trading website on @UK which can be used to sell online to otherbusinesses and even consumers worldwide. @UK is currently focused strongly onselling this approach to buyers throughout the public sector since this sectoroffers specific opportunities as a result of the UK Government's statedrequirements for eProcurement. Currently, there are over 1,000 public sector bodies spending over £100 billionannually on goods and services with around one million suppliers. These publicsector bodies have now been given specific performance targets in connectionwith eProcurement, and substantial sums have been invested by the Government ineCommerce platforms in both central and local Government. These projects form a core part of the 'Gershon' efficiency drive to save thepublic purse more than £20 billion annually by 2007/08. This drive followed thepublication in July 2004 of Sir Peter Gershon's report, 'Releasing resources tothe front line: Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency'. In addition,the Government encourages public sector bodies to engage with local companiesand stimulate their adoption of eCommerce. The Directors believe that @UK is ideally positioned to experience significantgrowth as these public sector bodies put in place the necessary online linkswith their suppliers. @UK listed on AIM in December 2005, raising £8 million before expenses at anissue price of 60p. @UK is included in the Software and Computer Services Sector(9530). For further information please visit www.ukplc.net. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
CBUY.L