Wilmington gobbles up SWAT Group

The London-listed firm said consideration will be settled by an initial cash payment of £2.4m, and a deferred consideration payment of up to £3m payable in September 2018 in cash, subject to SWAT achieving “challenging” profit targets over the next two financial years.

On acquisition, SWAT held £0.5m in cash.

Wilmington said the consideration will be financed out of the group’s existing £65m multicurrency debt facility, and the acquisition is expected to be earnings-enhancing in the first full year of ownership.

It said the acquisition of SWAT, which generates 50% of its revenue from subscription-based products, is consistent with Wilmington’s strategy of acquiring complementary businesses with high repeat revenues and strong cash-generative income streams in the group’s key markets.

The business will become part of Wilmington’s finance division.

“SWAT is a quality business that we have been tracking for a number of years and we are delighted that it is joining Wilmington,” said chief executive Pedro Ros.

“SWAT has a very experienced management team who collectively bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the accountancy training and technical support sectors.”

SWAT Group chief executive Adrian Gibbons described it as an “exciting opportunity” to work closely with Mercia to develop and deliver support services for the accounting profession.

“As part of Wilmington, SWAT is looking forward to providing the best support for our clients to keep them at the cutting edge of the accounting profession,” Gibbons added.