Documens Boss

 
Datum International Limited the software company specialising in the development, supply, implementation and support of their Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Solution KnowledgeWorker®, announces that it has raised circa £1m and acquired, conditional on payment of the consideration, Root3 Limited, a Bristol based document capture business. The initial acquisition cost of Root3 for £600k cash and shares (with an earn-out of £386k) represents good value and a positive strategic addition for Datum. Acquiring Root3 marks Datum’s first low-cost step on a strategy to deploy complete data capture and knowledge management solutions with high margins and exit values.
 
About Root3
Root3 is principally engaged in the supply and development of document and data capture software in the UK. Root3 has strong technical capabilities having developed specialist software surrounding Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and has a high quality customer base including the NHS, Royal Mail, ACCA and the Office of National Statistics. Root3 is particularly strong in Accounts Payable and Invoice Processing. For more information on Root3 visit: www.root3.com
 
Commenting on the acquisition David Hornsby, CEO of Datum, said:
“This acquisition broadens our product portfolio and significantly enhances Datum’s capabilities in the ECM market. Root3 is a high quality document and data capture business with a good product offering and an experienced management team. The company has a proven track record of successfully designing and implementing complex high volume document and data capture projects for blue chip organisations. The interest from both new and existing institutional shareholders demonstrates their support for our rationale behind the acquisition.”
 
Commenting on current trading, David said:
“Datum is currently trading within management expectations and we are confident of delivering the Company’s maiden annual profit when we announce our full results for the year ending April 2010.”
For more information on Datum visit: www.datumplc.com
 
Document Boss view:
“Root3 is a long established business that has developed an excellent reputation over the past 18 years around data capture and document management.  Combining their technical expertise with the team and technology from Datum will give them an excellent platform for further growth”, says CEO Mark Edwards.