Location Sciences has completed its reverse takeover of Manchester-based delivery tech platform Sorted in a £66.73 reverse takeover deal.
As part of the deal Sorted Holdings Limited has been renamed Sorted Group Holdings and was admitted to the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange on Monday February 19.
The deal was ratified by an EGM of Location Sciences’ shareholders on February 16 with more than 99 per cent voting in favour.
The company has now acquired 97 per cent of the issued share capital of Sorted Holdings Limited and will complete its acquisition of the remaining three per cent within 20 business days from completion.
Simon Wilkinson, the former CEO of Mobica and Myriad Group AG, is the chairman of Location Sciences and has been appointed chairman of Sorted.
He said: “It’s been a long road to complete this transaction but all along we’ve believed that Sorted has the potential to once again be a leading player in the eCommerce space.
“Now with our shareholders and team in place we can begin to execute on that opportunity.”
Wilkinson has invested in Sorted, alongside Mahmud Kamani, the founder of Boohoo Group, and Richard Hughes, the founder of Zeus Capital.
Additionally, Petar Cvetkovic and Dr Nigel Burton will join the Sorted board as non-executive directors. Cvetkovic was formerly the CEO of DX (Group) Plc, and Dr Burton is currently a non-executive director of BlackRock Throgmorton Investment Trust PLC.
Delivery platform that raised $100m in investment is sold for £66.73
Mahmoud Warriah, the CFO for the enlarged group, will join Carmen Carey, CEO of Sorted Group Holdings PLC, as executive director.
Carey commented: “This news marks another exciting stage in Sorted’s journey and brings a number of opportunities for further growth. Simon, Petar and Nigel have a wealth of experience, and further strengthen Sorted’s board.
“We look forward to working closely with them as we continue to bring outstanding delivery experiences to retailers and their customers.
“The admission to AIM is a significant milestone for Sorted and provides a great platform for our operations to grow. We look forward to keeping our shareholders, employees, customers and other stakeholders updated on developments within the Sorted business in the coming months and years.”
The news comes as Shard Credit Partners, a partner to Sorted, has continued its support with an equity investment of £1.6m into the group.
Wilkinson, the newly appointed chairman at Sorted Group Holdings, added: “The transaction solidifies our collaboration with Carmen and the Sorted team. Sorted has leading edge technology and is deployed in some of the country’s premium retail brands.
“Bringing together Sorted’s technology and our experience and investors – including Mahmud Kamani and Richard Hughes – expands its potential even further.”
Following admission to AIM, the company will have 7,639,705 ordinary shares with a nominal value of 62.5p each in issue.
The deal has secured the future of Sorted and its 60 staff and ended a turbulent period in the company’s history.
The global software company was launched in 2010 by David Grimes but ran into financial difficulties after raising nearly $100m in investment.
Last month BusinessCloud reported how Location Sciences had agreed to buy Sorted for £66.73, as well as take on the global software firm’s debts of £4m plus interest and invest £3m of capital.
Sorted reported a loss before tax of £28.6m in the year to September 2022, compared to losses of £14.1m in the previous year.
The company’s customers include M&S, Asda and Boohoo.
At its height in 2021 Sorted closed a $40m (£30m) Series C investment raise led by Chrysalis Investments and Arete Capital Partners.
The investment came less than nine months after Sorted raised another $15m (£11m) to fund future growth.
In January 2021, Sorted saw a 243 per cent year-on-year growth as it was named by the FT as one of fastest-growing companies in Europe.
However the company never returned a profit and ran into financial difficulties in 2022/ 2023, blamed on ‘a number of legacy issues’.
Grimes has now left the business which he co-founded with Paul Haydock in 2010, when it was called My Parcel Delivery.
The parcel delivery comparison website made sending parcels as hassle-free as possible and rebranded as Sorted in 2017.
Haydock subsequently left the business, which claimed to be able to transform the complex logistics industry into a simple, seamless experience.
In 2019 Carmen Carey was brought in as a non-executive director before replacing Grimes as CEO in 2021, who assumed a board advisory role as a NED.
However Sorted’s growth had not kept pace with its forecasts and it continued to report a loss.
On June 28 2023, Location Sciences announced that it had entered into exclusive non-binding heads of terms regarding a potential acquisition and outlined its plans in an admission document published in January 30, 2024.