Aptean, a provider of mission-critical, industry-specific enterprise software solutions, has completed its acquisition of Sanderson Group Plc, a UK-based provider of software and managed services. The acquisition provides Aptean the opportunity to grow its European presence, as well as invest in a well-established business with expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain and multi-channel retail software.
“The Sanderson acquisition is a significant development for Aptean and will provide us with a critical entry point into the UK market,” said TVN Reddy, Aptean’s Chief Executive Officer. “Sanderson is well-positioned as a specialist, vertically focused vendor in the sectors in which it operates as evidenced by the high customer satisfaction seen across its customer base.”
Sanderson
Founded in 1983 – and publicly owned until the acquisition – Sanderson is a specialist provider of:
- digital technology solutions
- software
- managed services.
Its approximately 800 customers came from a variety of sectors including:
- retail
- wholesale
- supply chain logistics
- food and drink processing
- manufacturing.
“Sanderson has built a reputation as a leader in digital technology solutions, innovative software and managed services for the retail, wholesale, supply chain logistics, food and drink processing and manufacturing market sectors, with a focus on keeping our customers one step ahead of their competition,” said Ian Newcombe, Chief Executive Officer at Sanderson. “Joining the Aptean team will allow us to build on that focus, delivering solutions that help our customers and the markets we address thrive today as well as starting the journey towards SaaS solutions for the future. We’re excited for this new era of growth and innovation.”
The Aptean angle
By joining the Aptean family, Sanderson believes Aptean will open up opportunities to realise greater client penetration in the end markets it already serves. This will include:
- development of its cloud capabilities
- improvements to the Sanderson products user interface
- greater scale.
The fit is with Aptean’s purpose-built ERP and supply chain management solutions which address the specific challenges that face process and discrete manufacturers, distributors and other focused enterprises. For example, Aptean built its compliance solutions for its 2500 customers serving specific markets such as:
- finance
- healthcare
- biotech
- pharmaceuticals.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
From the information available, Sanderson provides Aptean with growth opportunities in Europe. What is less clear, despite the protestations from Sanderson, is whether the purchase by Aptean will expand the Sanderson products’ reach – though Aptean does serve 20 targeted industries in 50+ countries.
As with most software acquisitions, only time will show whether both Aptean and Sanderson benefit. Nevertheless, the acquisition price, of GBP90M, was at a a premium of 9.8% to the closing price of 127.5p per Sanderson share before the announcement of the acquisition. It does not seem a large premium in the software and services arena.