Ubisense soars after proposing £35m RTLS sale

Ubisense jumped on Wednesday after it proposed the £35m sale of its RTLS Smartspace business to a company controlled by Bahraini private equity firm Investcorp Bank.

The intelligence-based solutions provider would receive £30m on completion of the sale, with further proceeds tied to revenue performance in 2018 and 2019, and said the sale will also include the Ubisense brand, meaning the company would change its name to IQGeo.

Richard Petti, chief executive of Ubisense, said: "This is an extremely positive change for both the RTLS SmartSpace and the IQGeo divisions which the board believes is in the long-term best interests of both businesses. The proceeds will allow us to refocus and re-brand the retained business as IQGeo and to invest in its myWorld software business."

Excess cash from the sale, which is expected in December pending shareholder approval, will be returned to shareholders following the sale, according to a statement from Ubisense.

"We have an excellent existing customer base across our target markets and a growing pipeline of new opportunities driven by worldwide growth in fiber broadband and 5G technology. From day one, the mission of the IQGeo team will be to build on existing foundations to create a global software business, with high levels of recurring revenues, high margins and strong cash flows," said Petti.

Ubisense’s shares were up 16.94% at 70.75p at 1252 GMT.