Serco Learning becomes Advanced in £7m deal

Yet another buyout by UK business software specialist

Advanced Computer Software has made yet another acquisition, this time buying management information systems provider Serco Learning for £7.25m.

Vin Murria, chief executive of Advanced, said the buy provides the group with a "significant presence" in the UK and Ireland education software sector.

"Serco Learning has an impressive range of software that is critical in helping a wide range of education facilities to manage their information in an intelligent way," she said.

There were also up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. Serco will be incorporated into Advanced's Business Solutions division addressing public sector and enterprise accounts.

Tola Sargeant, analyst at market watcher TechMarketView, said in the firm's HotViews newsletter today that the deal makes good financial sense.

"It is immediately earnings-enhancing and there are high levels of recurring revenue. Serco Learning had revenue of £13.5m in the year ending December 2011, of which circa £11m was recurring, and generated ‘adjusted EBITDA' of £1.2m," Sargeant wrote.

It also strengthens Advanced's position in both local government and the education sector, an area where TechMarketView expects growth, via managed and cloud services, over the next few years.

Sargeant said the Advanced group has 49 university and college customers of its back-office and student record software. Serco Learning has 2,000 customers, including local authorities, independent schools and further education providers.

"As a result, it provides good cross-selling opportunities for its Advanced 365 IT outsourcing and managed services business," she wrote.

The cash deal, which completes on 31 December, comprises a £6.25m payment to Serco Group and one of £1m to outsourcer iGate for a material services contract.