Listed data firm 1Spatial is set to be taken private in an £87 million cash deal.
The board of the Cambridge company is recommending that shareholders vote through a takeover by VertiGIS, a London-based provider of geographic information systems.
The offer of 73 pence per share represents a premium of 57% to the closing price of 46.5p yesterday.
The companies claim to have already received support from 1Spatial’s largest shareholders, representing 33.8% of the share capital of the business.
1Spatial, led by CEO Claire Milverton (pictured), manages geospatial data, supporting clients to build a solid data foundation – ensuring data is current, complete and consistent – across utilities, telecommunications, national mapping agencies, government departments, emergency services, defence, census bureaus and transportation organisations.
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VertiGIS, based in London, is a spatial asset management and geographic information systems solutions provider and software developer.
Its technology is used by more than 5,000 utilities, government, telecommunications and infrastructure organisations, with millions of end users worldwide.
The firm, which has over 500 employees operating from more than 21 offices in 9 countries, said it has completed due diligence into 1Spatial.
1Spatial says joining VertiGIS, which is backed by industry investment giant Battery Ventures, will “provide an immediate liquidity event at a cash price representing a premium to recent trading, while removing exposure to execution risk inherent in scaling enterprise SaaS companies and to public‑market volatility”.
It added that becoming privately owned would boost investment into its products when compared with the costs and disclosure obligations associated with an AIM listing.
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