Midwich enters North America
Audio visual products distributor Midwich Group (MIDW) is acquiring US-based Starin Marketing Inc for $27.1m (£21m) in cash and the assumption of debt of up to $19m (£14.7m). This is being funded by a £39.7m placing at 500p a share.
Starin will become the foundation of Midwich's move into North America, which is the world’s largest audio visual products market. Midwich has historically been strong in Europe and has been building up sales in Asia Pacific. In 2019, Starin generated revenues of $222.7m, which is around one-quarter of Midwich’s revenues. Starin’s EBITDA margin is 2.7%, compared with Midwich’s estimated 2019 figure of 5.5%.
Dematerialising with Avenir
Details of how the mandatory dematerialisation process for shareholdings will work in three years’ time remain sketchy. However, Avenir Registrars, sponsor of AIM Journal, is already employing smart technologies to put client issuers and investors ahead of the curve. Avenir do things differently, for example we don’t charge a CREST traffic fee for registry maintenance, so no nasty surprises for issuers.
Additionally, every physical certificate comes with a QR code as standard. So, a holding can be easily checked, free of charge, just by a quick scan of the camera on any smartphone.
Avenir can help you navigate the world of securities registration and benefit from electronic registers. For further information visit www.avenir-registrars.co.uk.
Blue Prism revenues soar
Robotic software developer and supplier Blue Prism (PRSM) generated more than £100m of revenues last year and it still has plenty of cash in the bank to cover the continuing loss. Monthly recurring revenues are running at £10.6m.
In the year to October 2019, revenues jumped from £55.2m to £101m and 96% of them were recurring. The cash outflow from operations was also much higher at £57.9m. That figure includes capitalised costs of obtaining contracts of £16m, which relates to IFRS15 accounting changes that also provided a slight boost to revenues.Last year’s fundraising means that there is still £74.1m of cash.
The total market could be worth more than $10bn in 2022 according to some estimates.
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