Journeo acquires MultiQ Denmark in EUR 2.5m deal

Transport technology and systems supplier Journeo announced its acquisition of MultiQ Denmark on Wednesday for €2.5m.

The AIM-traded firm said the transaction involved the entire issued share capital of MultiQ on a debt-free, cash-free basis.

It described MultiQ, headquartered in Aarhus, as a top-tier full-service provider in intelligent transport systems (ITS).

The company offered its services to various clients across Denmark, Sweden, and Iceland and was especially recognised for its expertise in developing public information systems for buses.

That includes fleet management software, on-board passenger entertainment, and real-time indoor and outdoor display systems.

Established over 15 years ago, MultiQ’s clientele primarily consists of passenger transport authorities (PTAs) and local authorities' passenger transport operators (PTOs).

The board explained that Journeo's acquisition of MultiQ would fortify the firm’s footprint in the Nordic market, notably in Stockholm, by offering ample opportunities for cross-selling products, technologies, and software solutions.

MultiQ was previously part of a more extensive group purchased by Vertiseit, a Swedish retail tech firm, in May last year.

By January this year, the digital media assets of MultiQ, along with several of its employees, were integrated into Dise, a Vertiseit subsidiary, with the reshuffling refocusing MultiQ's operations strictly on ITS.

Journeo said it financed the €2.5m purchase of MultiQ with an initial payment of €2.1m, followed by two deferred payments of €0.2m each over the next two years, using its cash reserves.

After adjusting for an intercompany balance repayment of €0.8m, the share consideration stood at €1.7m.

The acquired net assets amounted to €1.1m, with the expected goodwill projected at €0.6m.

Management at Journeo expected MultiQ's revenue for the year ending 31 December to be around €3.3m, with an operating profit of €0.26m, equating to an acquisition multiple of 2.3x.

“The acquisition of MultiQ provides Journeo with an established, full-service provider of intelligent transport systems in Denmark and further strengthens our expansion into the Nordic markets,” said chief executive officer Russ Singleton.

“MultiQ has a leading position and strong software-as-a-service based sales approach with approximately 40% recurring revenue that will complement our existing offering and bring further scale to our cloud-based applications.”

At 1408 BST, shares in Journeo were up 4.84% at 192.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.