Private equity investor considers £1bn takeover bid for software group

Private equity investor Cinven is considering an offer for Ideagen that could value the Nottingham-based company at around £1bn.

Cinven has revealed it is “in the early stages” of considering an offer, and now has until May 12 to firm up its plans under takeover rules.

Ideagen has so far only confirmed it has not yet received an approach from Cinven.

Software group Ideagen has been growing through acquisitions, and has now completed 27 acquisitions.

It raised £100m in December to fund acquisitions and went on to acquire MailManager in a £26.4m deal. Its largest purchase so far was done last November when it bought Sydney-based CompliSpace for £58m.

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Ideagen’s latest financial figures, for the six months to October 2021, showed revenues had risen by one-third to £38.8m. Profits for the period were £5.4m.

It has the ambition of having annual recurring revenue of more than £200m by April 2025.

Ideagen was founded in 2008 and was originally called Datum International before it rebranded following its acquisition of Ideagen Software in 2011.

Ideagen floated in 2012 and its closing share price of 253p on Thursday night valued the company at £740m.

Source: The Business Desk

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