MRI Software is set to acquire Castleton Technology Plc, a provider of specialist software and services to the social housing sector. MRI expects that, upon close, the acquisition will extend its residential market offering and accelerate the development of Castleton’s cloud-based technologies to serve the needs of social housing providers.
“The acquisition of Castleton is a significant development for our business, delivering us scale in the UK real estate market and social housing sector in particular - providing a platform to further accelerate our growth globally,” said Patrick Ghilani, Chief Executive Officer of MRI Software, in a statement. “A combined MRI and Castleton will be extremely well equipped to address the varying needs and evolving business models of the UK and Australian social housing sectors, with a comprehensive and flexible product portfolio. We are excited to work with the management team and employees of Castleton, to build upon their strong position in the social housing sector, utilising MRI's complementary experience, capabilities, network and resources.”
Castleton’s cloud-based technology is used by social housing providers in the UK, Republic of Ireland and Australia to enhance every aspect of customer service and business management, from building repairs to document management and payment collection. MRI plans to build on Castleton’s capabilities, providing investment and access to global expertise that will accelerate growth.
“Castleton has performed well since embarking on the strategy in 2013 to build a public sector-focused software and managed service business, growing organically as well as through a series of acquisitions. The competitive landscape is changing and as such I welcome the opportunity for Castleton shareholders to realize their investment at a premium of [43.9%] to yesterday’s Closing Price. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees of Castleton for all their hard work and support. The Castleton Directors believe that MRI Software will be an excellent partner to Castleton and its management and employees. We believe the acquisition is in the best interests of all our stakeholders and unanimously recommend that shareholders vote in favor of the resolutions relating to the acquisition,” said David Payne, Non-Executive Chairman of Castleton.
The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the boards of MRI and Castleton and is pending shareholder approval. Castleton will continue to serve its clients, as usual, without interruption.
