Chester data company GB Group announces £73.8m acquisition and placing

Identity data intelligence company GB Group plc (GBG) is set to acquire address validation and data quality services provider PCA Predict.

The takeover deal, announced this morning (May 9), has been agreed for £73.8m.

Chester-headquartered GBG will fund the acquisition by raising £58m in placing shares and £15.8m in cash.

The deal is forecast to be earnings enhancing within the first 12 months of consolidated GBG ownership.

Chris Clark, chief executive of GBG, said: “I am delighted to announce the acquisition of PCA Predict.

“Bringing together PCA Predict’s easy-to-deploy SaaS platform with our existing in depth GBG identity data intelligence data sets creates a leader in address data intelligence.”

He continued: “There is a strong strategic and cultural fit in combining the capabilities of PCA Predict and GBG which will bring significant benefit to our customers.

“The board and I are looking forward to the future success of GBG and PCA Predict.”

In the 12 months to March 31 2017, PCA Predict achieved an EBITDA of £18.5m against revenues of £87.3m.

The company’s SaaS solution is today used by more than 9,000 SME customers.