London tech firm acquires social housing software company worth £82m

A London technology company has announced that it has acquired a social housing software firm worth £82.8m.

MRI Software has reached an agreement on the cash acquisition of Castleton Technology, a software services provider for the social housing, commercial and public sectors.

The acquisition values the entire share capital of Castleton at approximately £82.8m, and Castleton shareholders will be entitled to receive 95p for each share in the company.

The acquisition is currently expected to be completed at the end of May 2020.

David Payne, non-executive chairman of Castleton, commented: “Castleton has performed well since embarking on the strategy in 2013 to build a public sector-focused software and managed service business, growing organically as well as through a series of acquisitions.

“The competitive landscape is changing and as such I welcome the opportunity for Castleton shareholders to realise their investment at a premium of 42.9 per cent to yesterday’s closing price.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees of Castleton for all their hard work and support.

“The Castleton directors believe that MRI Software will be an excellent partner to Castleton and its management and employees.

“We believe the acquisition is in the best interests of all our stakeholders and unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favour of the resolutions relating to the acquisition.”

Patrick Ghilani, CEO of MRI, added: “The acquisition of Castleton is a significant development for our business, delivering us critical scale in the UK real estate market and social housing sector in particular, and providing a platform to further accelerate our growth globally.

“A combined MRI and Castleton will be extremely well equipped to address the varying needs and evolving business models of the UK and Australian social housing sectors, with a comprehensive and flexible product portfolio.

“We are excited to work with the management team and employees of Castleton, to build upon their position in the social housing sector, utilising MRI’s complementary experience, capabilities, network and resources.”