Stone Group gathers no moss as it sells up for £39m
Canadian IT and cloud solutions provider grabs UK edtech supplier - its 35th acquisition in five years
UK edtech stalwart Stone Group has been snapped up for £39.2m in the latest example of cross-Atlantic channel consolidation.
The PC builder, reseller and ITAD - which has been owned since 2019 by private equity house Souter Investments - is set to be gobbled by acquisitive Canadian IT and cloud solutions provider Converge Technology Group.
Toronto-based Converge is paying £39.2m upfront for an 89 per cent stake in Staffordshire-based Stone, which specialises in supplying hardware and IT services to the UK education and public sectors.
Management will hang on to the remaining 11 per cent, the stock exchange announcement revealed.
Snapping up 35 companies inside five years, Converge leapt into Germany this June with a triple acquisition of local edtech suppliers. Its net revenues for the first half of its fiscal 2022 hit CAD1.15bn (£760m).
Stone's trailing for the 12 months to 31 July 2022 stood at £140m , according to Converge.
After adjusting for positive working capital, the purchase multiple stands at 6.6 times Stone's adjusted EBITDA for the same period.
As well as featuring on a range of public sector frameworks, Stone has a strong play in sustainability thanks to its Stone 360 App, the Canadian firm noted in its press puff.
"As a growing organisation with a strong team and great platform for significant expansion in the UK and Europe, joining Converge is a benefit for both our clients and Stone employees," Stone CEO Simon Harbridge (pictured above) said.
"2022 has been a monumental year of growth for Converge in the European market," Converge CEO Shaun Maine added.
"Along with our recent acquisitions in Germany, we are excited to leverage the knowledge and skills of Stone Group and its teams to continue enhancing our capabilities and offerings to our clients in the United Kingdom and European Union."
The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter.