RegTech giant Marlowe has agreed the £135 million acquisition of Optima.
Optima is a provider of technology-enabled occupational health services in the UK. Its digitally connected services assure the health and wellbeing of employees, lowering workplace risk and increasing corporate productivity.
Headquartered in Redditch in the Midlands with operational hubs in Glasgow, Sheffield, London and Taunton, it employs 1,000 people, among them 600 clinical professionals.
Serving private and public sector customers throughout the UK, it generates revenue of £68 million and adjusted EBITDA of £11m.
London-headquartered Marlowe, which has revenues of £335m, more than 50,000 clients and more than 3,500 employees, said the deal is consistent with its strategy to become the leader in the occupational health sector.
The group is launching a share placing to raise around £130m to fund the acquisition.
“The acquisition of Optima significantly strengthens our governance, risk and compliance division and builds further confidence in the delivery of our FY 2024 strategy, which is materially ahead of schedule,” said Marlowe CEO Alex Dacre.
“The combination of Optima with our existing GRC businesses is highly complementary and will enable us to offer customers a broader range of services whilst delivering synergies.
“The proposed fundraising, alongside an intended refinancing of our existing bank facilities, will enable us to deliver on our strategy at pace with significant capacity for further acquisition-led growth.”