Pegasus Group Plc topped off another successful year with the acquisition of Birmingham-based CSM Ltd, part of the Microvitec Group Plc, a move that was to have taken place last year until the Sage Group Plc made an unsolicited offer for Pegasus and put everything on hold (CI No 2,988). In a deal worth 6.7m pounds, Pegasus will buy CSM for 4m pounds in cash, 2.1m pounds in shares and 600,000 pounds in loan notes. CSM sells software to accountancy practices, but has had problems converting its software over to Windows95, a process only likely to be fully completed by the end of 1998. It had sales of 4.3m pounds in 1996, and pre-tax profit of 148,000 pounds. Pegasus insists that the unwelcome Sage bid did not deflect the management team from meeting its targets, and indeed profits for the year to December 31 were up 50% to 977,000 pounds on revenue up 21% to 7.8m pounds. Its mainstream Opera business software for small and medium-sized business continues to sell, while forthcoming launches due later this year include the electronic banking product Cashbook for Opera, developed in conjunction with Barclays Bank Plc (CI No 3,036), the Capital Gold entry-level business package, and a new Personnel Administration module for Opera. CSM will strengthen its market position and offer opportunities for product integration and joint development.
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