The Boards of 2e2 and Morse, UK based IT services and consulting businesses, have reached agreement on the terms of a recommended cash acquisition valued at GBP 69.8m, 51 pence pence per share. The Acquisition has been unanimously recommended to Morse Shareholders by the Morse Directors.
2e2 views the Acquisition as an important strategic opportunity to create an experienced UK and European IT services provider with greater capabilities that will benefit from larger scale, greater market visibility and increased attractiveness to the Enlarged Group's enterprise, corporate and public sector customer base.
The Enlarged Group will provide both sets of customers with a broader range of complementary services and solutions including managed services, hosting, unified communications, data management, security, business application solutions and "cloud computing". The Acquisition will allow 2e2 to increase its scale and to accelerate its plans to offer a range of architectural solutions to its customers that aim to change business outcomes and offer reduced cost of operations. The Enlarged Group will also enjoy enhanced capabilities and relationships with the key technology suppliers within the industry.
The combined sales and EBITDA of 2e2 and Morse for the year ended 31 December 2009 were GBP 414m and GBP 40m respectively. 2e2 expects significant benefits from cost synergies and cross-selling opportunities within the enlarged customer base and enhanced positioning within its chosen industry sectors.