The board of unquoted UK software engineering and consultancy firm Praxis Plc is recommending acceptance of an offer tendered by management consultancy giant Touche Ross & Co to acquire the company in a deal that values Praxis at ?6.51m (CI No 2,055). Shareholders of the 165-employee firm, based in Bath, get ?1.255 a share under the agreement, announced Thursday. All Touche Ross’s UK software engineering activities, including 30-strong development team hired from Manchester firm Mountsey a couple of years ago, will operate under the Praxis name. Touche Ross, which has been looking for an acquisition to accelerate the growth of its information technology business for some 18 months, chose Praxis ahead of several other firms it had been considering, and says the deal means it won’t have to subcontract work on computing projects any longer. Praxis, founded in 1983, sees the acquisition as a way of growing its business, which has been flat for the last few years. Touche Ross has an outstanding agreement with NCR Corp to develop systems based on NCR’s Co-operation client-server, object-oriented software and document management systems, and is also is responsible for administering the UK Department of Trade and Industry’s Neural Network Awareness programme. Praxis has three main areas of business: critical systems, including work with the UK Defence Research Agency’s Architecture Neutral Distribution Format technology and high reliability display information systems, database application development for the oil, chemical and pharmaceutical industries and consultancy. Touche Ross has already had acceptances for 85% of the issued share capital in Praxis; the offer closes on December 10. Praxis will continue in its present form, with managing director David Bean and chairman Martyn Thomas becoming partners in the Touche Ross UK operation, which employs some 6,000.
