Mercia Asset Management PLC Successful exit of Clear Review (3993C)
19 October 2020 - 5:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMERC
RNS Number : 3993C
Mercia Asset Management PLC
19 October 2020
RNS 19 October 2020
Mercia Asset Management PLC
("Mercia" the "Company" or the "Group")
Successful exit of Clear Review delivering a 72% IRR
Mercia Asset Management PLC (AIM: MERC), the proactive
regionally focused specialist asset manager with c.GBP800 million
of assets under management, is pleased to announce the profitable
sale of Clear Review Limited ("Clear Review") for a total cash
consideration of up to GBP26.0million.
Mercia held a 4.0% fully diluted direct holding in Clear Review
at the date of sale and will receive cash proceeds of GBP1.0million
representing a 2x return on its investment and a 72% IRR. In
addition to this direct investment return, the sale will also
generate an 8x return on Mercia's EIS managed fund investment cost
and a 122% fund IRR.
The company, which was first backed by Mercia's managed funds in
2018 and became a direct investment in June 2019, has been sold to
Advanced Business Software and Solutions Limited ("Advanced"), the
third largest British software and services company in the UK.
Clear Review, which was founded by Stuart Hearn, former HR
director at Sony, is a software as a service ("SaaS") tool
providing organisations with data and systems to improve
performance management. Under Stuart's leadership the company
quickly met its commercial milestones, passing GBP2.0million in
annual recurring revenue in December 2019, up 100% from the
previous year. Mercia portfolio director Nigel Owens was a
non-executive director from December 2019 until the sale.
Stuart Hearn, CEO of Clear Review, said "We're extremely proud
of the success of our Clear Review platform and its role in
improving business performance and developing talent around the
world. The acquisition will enable us to accelerate Clear Review's
growth as well as integrate with Advanced's HR solutions, helping
organisations retain their best talent and increase
performance."
Dr Mark Payton, CEO of Mercia Asset Management, said: "Clear
Review is now our fifth full cash exit from the direct investment
portfolio, coming just three months after we announced the sale of
The Native Antigen Company. We have been consistent in our stated
objective to both source and exit deals well, and I am pleased that
we have been able to again demonstrate our execution of this
strategy through another successful exit.
"The team at Clear Review has achieved great things in a
relatively short period of time and I am confident that under their
new custodian they will continue to disrupt the HR SaaS sector.
"This sale process has been handled entirely virtually, which is
testament to our team's effectiveness in transacting deals even
during these complex times."
-Ends-
For further information, please contact:
Mercia Asset Management PLC
Mark Payton, Chief Executive Officer
Martin Glanfield, Chief Financial Officer +44 (0)330 223
www.mercia.co.uk 1430
Canaccord Genuity Limited (NOMAD and Joint +44 (0)20 7523
Broker) 8000
Simon Bridges, Emma Gabriel, Richard Andrews
N+1 Singer (Joint Broker)
+44 (0)20 7496
Harry Gooden, James Moat 3000
+44 (0)20 3727
FTI Consulting 1051
Tom Blackwell, Louisa Feltes, Shiv Talwar
mercia@fticonsulting.com
About Mercia Asset Management PLC:
Mercia is a proactive, specialist asset manager focused on
supporting regional SMEs to achieve their growth aspirations.
Mercia provides capital across its four asset classes of balance
sheet, venture, private equity and debt capital: the Group's
'Complete Connected Capital'. The Group initially nurtures
businesses via its third-party funds under management, then over
time Mercia can provide further funding to the most promising
companies, by deploying direct investment follow-on capital from
its own balance sheet.
The Group has a strong UK footprint through its regional
offices, 19 university partnerships and extensive personal
networks, providing it with access to high-quality deal flow.
Mercia currently has c.GBP800million of assets under management
and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested over GBP96million
into its direct investment portfolio.
Mercia Asset Management PLC is quoted on AIM with the EPIC
"MERC".
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END
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