UK firm Maxima buys Intertech for €6.1m


14 Nov 2006

Intertech Solutions Ireland, the largest reseller of Citrix software in the Irish market, has been acquired by Maxima Holdings, an AIM-listed IT provider, for €6.1m.

Maxima will make a cash payment of €4.1m and issue 738,648 new ordinary shares to fund the purchase. There will be no earnout.

Maxima said the deal was in line with its consolidation strategy and that it would contribute to the company’s earnings in the current financial year ending 31 May 2007. For the year ended 31 Dec 2005, Intertech made a pre-tax profit of €29,000 on revenues of €4.5m, with net assets of €1m.

Around 100 of Intertech’s customers have managed service agreements with the company, mainly for the Citrix software it provides. Maxima said that these sites are in the three same market segments in which it already operates: manufacturing, public sector and financial services.

Over the past three years, Dublin-based Intertech has grown its business by 29pc. The company has 33 employees, who will be immediately integrated with Maxima’s existing managed service business.

Maxima said it believes that Intertech’s skills would be transferable to the UK market, initially into Maxima’s existing client base, many of whom already use Citrix. The company also said that its 60 existing customers in the Republic would be better served by having a base here.

Intertech will continue to run the business locally. The company’s co-founder, largest shareholder and non-executive director Robbie O’Brien has resigned but will provide consultancy services to Maxima.

By Gordon Smith