Small caps news round-up

Servelec Group has acquired Tribal Group's Synergy children's services management information system business for of £20.25m cash, which it is part-funding with a new bank facility. Using the proceeds to reduce net debt, Tribal, which issued two profit warnings late last year, said the deal would reduce its scheduled rights issue to £21m from the £30m proposed in December.

Eagle Eye Solutions Group has confirmed the retirement of Bob Willett as a non-executive director. In an update on Tuesday, the AIM-listed software as a service (SaaS) technology company that validates and redeems digital promotions in real-time for the grocery, retail and hospitality industries, said Willett was leaving to “concentrate on his other investments.”

Jaywing was embarking on an ambitious study of consumer behaviour on Tuesday, announcing the formation of a strategic collaboration with the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London. The AIM-traded company said it had agreed to sponsor a three-and-a-half year research programme, to measure cognitive response through neuroimaging technology.

Capital Gearing Trust, a self-managed investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange, has issued fresh equity. In market update on Tuesday, CGT said it had issued 2,000 Ordinary Shares of 25p from its block listing facility at a price of 3,403 pence per share.

Expansion was the theme of 2015 at Johnson Service Group, and it paid off in its final results on Tuesday, with its two new acquisitions performing well. The AIM-traded textile services business saw revenue in the calendar year increase 11.4% to £234.4m, with adjusted operating profit ahead 28% to £27.9m. Adjusted profit before tax was £25.2m, up 26% on the prior year.

Premier African Minerals received a fresh cash injection on Tuesday, announcing it had received a direct subscription for £500,000 in new ordinary shares. The AIM-traded company said the subscription consisted of an issue of 100 million new ordinary shares, at a subscription price of 0.5p each, conditional on admission.

ULS Technology expanded its B2C offering on Tuesday, acquiring a 35% stake in HomeOwners Alliance (HOA), and integrating its eConveyancer technology into the popular property web destination. The AIM-traded provider of online B2B platforms for the UK conveyancing and financial intermediary markets said the HomeOwners Alliance website was originally launched in 2012 as a membership organisation, serving up independent expert property-related articles and advice to homeowners and prospective buyers in Britain.

Cambridge Cognition was reaching out to a new frontier in the world of wearable technology on Tuesday, announcing a new partnership with London-based design and research agency Ctrl Group for the creation of products for use in mental health applications. The AIM-traded company, which specialises in cognitive assessment technologies, said the partnership would produce novel digital health applications with prototype products expected in the latter half of 2016.

Atlas Development and Support Services formed a major partnership in its development of the Chancho Project bottle manufacturing facility in Ethiopia on Tuesday, appointing local firm MH Engineering to provide design services to the project. The AIM-traded company said the services provided would include architectural, engineering, structural, sanitary, electrical and mechanical design and quantity surveying services at the project, which would have an annual production capacity of 105 million 330mL bottles.

Onzima Ventures has snapped up a 49% share in drug reformulations outfit N4 Pharma for £41,000 cash and 24.27m new shares, which will be locked in by N4's management for two years. Onzima, which changed its name from Ultima Networks after selling off its green energy operations and raising £0.75m in a placing, has agreed to provide a loan facility of £209,000 to N4 Pharma for the development of its business.