Pi Holdings, ever hungry to expand by acquisition, has bought the Bristol-based software company IML, Information Management Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. Established nine years ago by the current managing director Arthur Hook, the company specialises in packages for the manufacturing sector. Its Quality Monitor software is used in food, chemicals, engineering, and nuclear industries, and it is marketed by IBM. IML’s product portfolio also includes Cal-ibration Monitor, communications and data collection software, and Madcap, a management decision and bureau tool. All of which complement Pi’s existing software, networking, and fourth generation language activities. IML’s sales and marketing director, Elizabeth Stratton, says that while the company was doing well and expects to write UKP500,000 of business in the coming year, it did need a big brother to finance large scale expansion. IML negotiated with with six companies and institutions, but having had dealings with Pi’s first acquisition, Timegate Computer Services, Pi seemed to offer the backing and ethos that Information Management was seeking. Noel Kirkwood, Timegate’s managing director, now has a position on the board of IML. Pi Holdings was set up in May last year (CI No 1,185) by Bryan Mills and Bob Fawcett, founders of CMG Computer Management Group, and funded by the merchant bank Dumenil London, Alta-Berkeley, and EGL Associates. Since then, it has pursued a policy of voracious acquisition. In addition to Timegate and IML, Pi owns Orion Network Communications, London-based SIA, the Langton consultancy, and in partnership with Uniface BV, it jointly acquired Inside Auto-mation Ltd, the Dutch company’s UK distributor (CI No 1,259).
