Accumuli M&A drive gathers pace with Fujin buyout

Ian Smith-helmed buy-and-build firm seals second deal

Buy and build outfit Accumuli has sealed its second deal in little more than a month by snapping up security integrator Fujin Technology for £2m.

Accumuli was born out of the husk of Cisco partner NetServices, the trading arm of which was sold to GCI Com in May. With serial entrepreneur Ian Smith at the helm, it was not long before the firm was back in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) action, bagging Tuscany Networks in a £4m reverse takeover last month.

Accumuli is now to pay £2m for Theale-based Fujin – £1.9m on completion of the deal and £100,000 on 31 January, subject to conversion of working capital to cash. For the year to 31 October, Fujin banked pre-tax profits of £430,000 on sales of £3m. As of its fiscal year-end, it had five employees and net assets of £420,000.

All five Fujin staff will remain with the new owners, with technical director Andy Aplin assuming the same role at a group-wide level. Fujin managing director Will Palmer will be kept on as a consultant and asked for his input on the group's future strategy.

Graham Norfolk, Accumuli's non-executive chairman, said: "We are delighted to have completed the second acquisition in our stated strategy of building a mananged IT security services business. Fujin is a strong, well-established business with an enviable technical track record and a blue chip customer base.

"Andy Aplin and his team have a wealth of technical expertise which we intend to utilise across all of our business. We look forward in the near future to providing further updates upon our acquisition strategy."

Fujin Systems – which shares an office and a number of shareholders with its namesake – was sold to another Ian Smith-backed M&A player last month in the shape of Redstone.