Tax Systems Plc Acquires OSMO Data Technology Limited

Tax Systems, a leading supplier of corporation tax software and services is pleased to announce that it has acquired the entire issued share capital of OSMO Data Technology Limited  in return for the issue of 4,701,492 new ordinary shares of 1 penny each in the capital of the Company, which, at the mid closing price as at 3 April 2017, represents a value of £3.2 million. In addition the Company announces certain board changes.  

Highlights

Acquisition

• OSMO is a provider of automated data extraction software that connects to 295 versions of accounting software packages  
• Strategic software acquisition enabling organisations to leverage data and automate parts of the end to end tax process which in turn will help them comply with HMRC's Making Tax Digital programme
• Acquisition extends Tax Systems' solutions portfolio to further penetrate the Company's existing customer base of over 1,050 clients
• Using OSMO's technology, finance and tax teams can avoid the requirement for manual data entry from accounting systems leading to increased efficiency and cost savings
• OSMO's technology is sold on a software as a service basis (SaaS); for the year ended 31 December 2016 OSMO generated revenue of £1.2 million, of which over 75% is recurring, and Adjusted EBITDA* of £0.1 million

Board Changes

• Gavin Lyons, formerly Executive Chairman, appointed Chief Executive Officer to focus on the Company's development
• Clive Carver, formerly Non-Executive Director, appointed Non-Executive Chairman
• Kevin Goggin appointed Chief Financial Officer, with Grahame Benson, Finance Director and COO, stepping down with immediate effect
• Paul Gibson appointed Non-Executive Director

* Adjusted for capitalisation of research and development costs in line with Tax Systems' policy

Gavin Lyons, CEO of Tax Systems, commented:

"The acquisition of OSMO and the strengthening of the Board are key steps in the development of the Company.

With regards to the Acquisition, tax departments are under increasing pressure to manage tax risk, leverage tax data and automate as much of the end to end tax reporting and compliance process as possible.  OSMO's software is an excellent solution to help ease the manual workload associated with gathering data from accounting systems; this is a critical task which consumes a substantial amount of time and cost. Tax departments will be able to use the OSMO solution to automate data collection, free up expert tax resources and help them prepare for HMRC's 'Making Tax Digital' programme.

In addition, I am excited to accept the role of CEO having been Executive Chairman since the re-admission to AIM in July 2016. I am also very pleased to welcome both Kevin and Paul to the board, both of whom have strong backgrounds in the technology sector, and wish Grahame all the best for his future endeavours.