A £5.4m takeover deal has been agreed between the boards of Bradford-based cyber security firm ECSC and Daisy Group.
The move means that London-listed ECSC, which provides protection and detection services to other business, will become part of the privately owned, North West-based IT and communications group if shareholders approve the deal. In an update to investors, ECSC said Daisy's directors saw the firm as a good fit for its Daisy Corporate Services business.
The firm also said its current strategy would likely take a period of time to carry out and that it might need to access additional growth capital, which it did not think would be available on the capital markets at a price that would benefit shareholders. Daisy's acquisition, ECSC said, would provide the resources required to scale and remove the costs and regulatory constraints of being a listed company.
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Matthew Briggs, chief executive officer of ECSC, said: "As a board, having carefully considered the pros and cons of being acquired by Daisy, we determined the pros significantly outweigh the cons. Whilst the strategy for ECSC is underway, there are some inevitable headwinds from increased competition, pricing pressures and wage inflation especially in the technology sector.
"Taking these factors into account, together with a strategy which can only be executed over a 12-24 month period due to the nature of 'big ticket' contract negotiations, the opportunity to be acquired by Daisy at a significant share price premium and a 'ready made' cross sell client base makes this acquisition very attractive for ECSC.
"We are excited by the prospect of what can be achieved as Daisy and ECSC come together. Under Daisy ownership the ECSC Directors believe there is a very real prospect that ECSC can become the UK's leading cyber security organisation, providing excellent career opportunities and delivering best in class cyber solutions for new and existing clients."
Neil Thompson, chief executive officer of Daisy said: "We're really excited about adding ECSC's longstanding and highly complementary Cyber expertise to Daisy's existing Operational Resilience Division, and wider Managed Service business. Our people are looking forward to working together, and the skill sets the ECSC team bring will further enhance the market leading IT services we provide to our customers."
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