Artilium strengthens call centre offer with Livecom acquisition

The AIM-traded provider of telecommunications software and solutions said the acquisition was expected to be immediately earnings-enhancing, by adding new services to the call centre portfolio of Artilium subsidiary Comsys.

The acquisition was for a total consideration of €512,500 (£397,777), with €450,000 to be paid in cash and remainder by the issue of 880,460 new ordinary shares at 5.38p per share, locked in for 12 months.

Livecom was described as a specialist in consumer interaction management, providing a single web application to handle all customer contacts via chat, email and voice, as well as an expert knowledge base.

The Amsterdam-based firm had more than 10 years of experience, Artilium said, with a strong customer base in the Netherlands. It had already conducted an initial product integration with Comsys.

Livecom was also expanding its offering to include new customer interaction channels, such as Whatsapp, the company's board explained.

Artilium CEO Bart Weijermars described the acquisition of Livecom as a very exciting opportunity for the group.

"Comsys has already established Artilium in the call centre market, and the addition of Livecom's application presents exciting new capabilities to that offering," he said.

"Importantly, this creates additional value to our customers and an additional growth opportunity for us," Weijermars added.

The acquisition came a day after Artilium's board downgraded its revenue projections for the first half, citing delays in the impact of a number of acquisitions and investments made in the previous year.