Acquisition of Commercial Network Services

This announcement contains inside information

Beeks Financial Cloud Group plc

("Beeks" or "the Company") 

Acquisition of Commercial Network Services

Beeks Financial Cloud Group plc (AIM: BKS), a cloud computing and connectivity provider for financial markets, is pleased to announce it has acquired the assets of Commercial Network Services ("CNS"), a US-based online service provider, for a total consideration of up to $1.4 million ('the Transaction').

Highlights

·      CNS specialises in hosting low latency algorithmic trading systems, virtual private networks and streaming media from data centres in London, New York and Los Angeles.

·      Founded in 2000, CNS provides services to approximately 1,000 retail traders across multiple geographies.

·      CNS has annualised recurring revenue of approximately $1.0 million and delivered a profit before tax of $0.17 million in the year to 31 December 2018.

·      The Transaction brings additional customers and datacentre locations to Beeks' retail offering and is expected to deliver cost synergies.

·      The Transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing within the first full year of Beeks' ownership.

This Transaction is in line with the Group's stated strategy to grow both organically and through tactical and strategic acquisitions. With an established customer base, high levels of recurring revenue and strong service offering, the Transaction adds both scale and cost-synergies to Beeks' retail trader offering. 

Under the terms of the Transaction, $1.3 million will be settled in cash on completion (the "Initial Consideration") with $0.1 million held as retention subject to satisfactory completion of warranties (the "Contingent Consideration"). The Initial Consideration and Contingent Consideration will be financed out of the Group's existing cash balance and banking facilities.

Gordon McArthur, CEO of Beeks Financial Cloud commented:

"At the time of our IPO we stated our belief that the fragmented nature of our industry would provide us with the potential to augment our organic growth with both bolt-on and strategic acquisitions. Commercial Network Services is a profitable business whose services reflect those we offer to retail traders. The business therefore fits well within our acquisition criteria and we anticipate will be a valuable addition to the Group."

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ABOUT BEEKS FINANCIAL CLOUD

Beeks Financial Cloud is a UK-based low-latency Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider for automated trading in Forex, Futures, Equities, Fixed income and cryptocurrency financial products. With eleven data centres globally and low-latency connectivity between sites, the Beeks Financial Cloud focuses on reducing barriers to entry and time to market for institutional clients. For more information, visit: www.beeksfinancialcloud.com.