Kin and Carta plc’s board of directors has approved a £203 million venture capital buyout proposal.
A newly formed company, Kelvin UK Bidco Limited, which is indirectly owned by funds represented by Apax Partners, made an offer of 110 pennies in cash per share, which represented a premium of about 41% over the closing cost of 78p on Tuesday, October 17.
Additionally, it marks a 51% premium above the 73p average price for the previous six months.
The original printing business, which was established in 1964, changed its emphasis in 2018 to become Kin + Carta after making a number of acquisitions to reflect the advent of technology and the demise of that sector.
As a printing company, its share price increased to surpassing 600p in 1999. According to Apax, Kin + Carta is a “high quality organization with an excellent foundation in the digital transformation,” especially given its stellar lineup of blue-chip enterprise clients.
“The shifting economic landscape has highlighted the significance of scale and diversity in the DX sector,” the statement continued. Apax thinks that Kin & Carta will be better able to make the investment required to set up the company for long-term success as a private company.
Kin + Carta is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange that provides services to the financial services, healthcare, industrial and agricultural, retail and distribution, transportation, and public sectors. Kin + Carta is the first company to receive B Corp accreditation.
It has global offices in London and Chicago and more than 1,800 specialists, engineers, and scientists work there.
According to John Kerr, chairman of Kin and Carta plc, “Kin + Carta is poised to move forward with the next chapter of development for the business” following the company’s successful strategic repositioning as a pure-play global online transformation consultant.
“We think the offer by Apax Funds to buy Kin and Carta is a great chance for the company to scale the business and accelerate ambitious growth plans, building on the purchase and integration of top information technology companies, the growth of valuable technological advances partnerships, and the development of a solid portfolio of enterprise clients.
“Kin and Carta will be able to move more quickly on the company’s current strategy thanks to Apax’s experience developing and growing digital consultant businesses with key contacts, resources, and access to additional growth funding.