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Sage plans to combine its accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for SMEs with Brightpearl’s SaaS-based retail management system.
Accounting software company Sage has revealed plans to acquire Brightpearl for £225m.
Sage already has a 17pc minority stake in the retail management platform and plans to acquire the remaining 83pc using existing cash as well as its available liquidity.
Completing its acquisition of the company will enable Sage to move into the e-commerce and retail sectors. The transaction is expected to close in 2022.
Brightpearl, which has operations in the UK and US, is expected to generate up to £27m in revenue for the year ending December 2021. This represents around a 50pc increase compared the previous year. The company’s platform manages more than 10m transactions and $5bn of business a year.
Sage will integrate its accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for SMEs with Brightpearl’s SaaS-based retail operating system.
Steve Hare, Sage’s CEO, said that together the two companies would “remove the barriers that hold back retailers and wholesalers” and streamline their systems to enable them to “focus on growth”.
Hare added that he is looking forward to working with Brightpearl’s management team on executing their “strategic priorities together” while “delivering accelerated growth”.
Brightpearl CEO Derek O’Carroll said the deal will “will combine the retail strength of Brightpearl and the scale, brand and financial expertise of Sage,” enabling his company to offer customers “the most innovative financial and retail operating solutions so they can grow fearlessly, save time and deliver outstanding experiences”.
Brightpearl has bases in Texas and Bristol, while Sage is a multinational headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne that employs more than 12,000 people.
In 2019, it acquired Dublin-based start-up AutoEntry, which provided data automation software to accountants, bookkeepers and businesses. That same year, Sage sold its Sage Pay payments platform to US company Elavon as part of its plan to concentrate its efforts more on the SaaS sector.
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