Acquisition of Industrial Vision Systems Ltd and Issue of Equity
1 November 2023
Oxford Metrics plc
("Oxford Metrics", or the
“Group”)
Acquisition of
Industrial Vision Systems Ltd and Issue of
Equity
-
Extending smart sensing capabilities through M&A
- Brings
specialised machine learning technology for automated quality
control
- Good
strategic fit adding new niche market strength in smart
manufacturing
Oxford Metrics plc (LSE: OMG), the smart sensing
software company, servicing life sciences, entertainment and
engineering markets, today announces it has entered into an
agreement to acquire Industrial Vision Systems Ltd
(“IVS”®), specialists in developing machine vision
software and technology for high precision, automated quality
control systems used across numerous industries. The consideration
of £8.1m is to be funded with existing cash resources and new
ordinary Oxford Metrics shares.
Based in Oxfordshire, IVS’ innovative machine
vision systems are used globally in automated production processes
for high precision quality control, inspection, guidance,
identification, measurement, tracking and counting. Its highly
accurate, non-contact vision systems provide well-known brands with
quality control which ultimately lowers costs, improves brand
reputation, competitiveness and increases safety.
Imogen Moorhouse, CEO of Oxford Metrics,
commented: “Today’s announcement strengthens our sense,
analyse and apply strategy. Through its cutting-edge machine vision
solutions, IVS replaces traditional inspection methods with smart
sensing. This results in faster, more reliable, and highly accurate
results, providing well-known brands with the latest machine vision
automation.
“I am delighted to welcome IVS to Oxford
Metrics. With more and more manufacturers demanding this innovation
to revolutionise processes, ensure quality products and provide
more efficient, error-proof production, we are excited about the
opportunity ahead to extend into yet more applications and
industries as inspection automation becomes more mainstream and
smart manufacturing becomes the standard.”
Co-founders Earl Yardley and Andrew
Waller, Industrial Vision Systems, said:
“Oxford Metrics is the only home we considered
because it shares our company culture and values and has a proven
track record of taking great technology forward by nurturing and
developing it. We are on a mission to make companies more
efficient, highly flexible and quicker with our machine solutions.
As part of Oxford Metrics, we will continue to develop and broaden
our technology offering with an ongoing focus on innovation and
research & development.”
Acquisition Highlights
- A
good strategic fit - meeting our acquisition criteria: the
acquisition adds IP rich, hard-to-replicate vision software and
machine technology, with over 23 years of experience in smart
vision technology.
-
Bringing specialised machine learning AI
technology: artificial intelligence deep learning vision
systems spot patterns and anomalies in real-time manufacturing
quality control, ensuring precise and repeatable solutions that
continuously learn based on image data.
- New
niche market strength enabling smart manufacturing in a wide
variety of use cases: replacing the need for human
inspection with more reliable, highly accurate inspection results,
smart sensing is enabling smart manufacturing including static,
non-contact inspections for contact lenses, pharmaceutical and
automotive production, and production quality, and is playing an
important role detecting and verifying errors, defects,
contaminants and other irregularities.
- An
impressive client roster, trusted by blue-chip manufacturing
companies: adding new customers from highly regulated
markets, including medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturers,
leveraging our heritage in the Life Sciences market.
- An
able management team established and led by founders: Earl
Yardley and Andrew Waller will continue to lead the business
following the acquisition.
-
Expanding market opportunities in smart sensing:
by leveraging the Group’s platform, IVS will have the access,
expertise and resources to scale. There are clear opportunities to
expand its geographic footprint and grow its IP-rich static
technology offering with prospects to benefit from Vicon’s dynamic
sensing.
-
Attractive financial profile: The business has a
profitable track record over the past five years, driven by an
average annual growth rate in revenues of 6%. In the year ended
28th February 2023 the business reported unaudited revenues of
£3.4m and an EBIT of £0.8m. Trading over the past six months is
consistent with delivering a further improvement in performance.
The acquisition is expected to be immediately EPS enhancing.
Transaction structure and issue of shares
The acquisition consideration is £8.1m and is
subject to customary adjustments for working capital, cash and
debt-like items. The consideration is to be funded in cash from
existing resources and the issue of 1,006,859 new Oxford Metrics
ordinary shares calculated based on the average closing price over
the 30-day trading period between 15th September 2023 and 26th
October 2023 of 86.63p. Application has been made for these new
ordinary shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM, with admission
expected to become effective on 6th November 2023.
Following the issue and allotment of these new
ordinary shares as described above, the Company will have
131,427,135 ordinary shares in issue. No shares are held in
treasury.
The information contained within this
announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as
stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.
Upon this announcement's publication, this inside information is
now considered in the public domain.
For further information please
contact:
Oxford
Metrics |
+44
(0)1865 261860 |
Imogen Moorhouse,
CEO |
|
David Deacon,
CFO |
|
|
|
Deutsche
Numis |
+44 (0)20
7260 1000 |
Simon Willis /
Hugo Rubinstein / Tejas Padalkar |
|
|
|
FTI
Consulting |
+44 (0)20
3727 1000 |
Matt Dixon / Emma
Hall / Jamille Smith / Jemima Gurney |
|
Further information on Industrial Vision
Systems – bringing smart sensing to smart
manufacturing
IVS’ innovative machine vision systems are used
globally in automated production processes for high precision
quality control, inspection, guidance, identification, measurement,
tracking and counting. Its highly accurate, non-contact vision
systems provide well-known brands with quality control which
ultimately lowers costs, improves brand reputation, competitiveness
and increases safety. Founded in 2000 and located at the Harwell
Science and Innovation Campus - Oxfordshire.
Based on the very latest digital camera
technology with embedded software, its cost effective, easy to set
up vision systems enable rapid integration and standardisation
through seamless factory automation. IVS invests in long-term
partnerships with its customers, supplying comprehensive support
packages with its deployed smart systems including customer
service, technical support, and training packages. It is trusted by
blue-chip manufacturing companies across the globe including BD,
DePuy, Jaguar Land Rover, Johnson & Johnson, Zytronic and
Alkegen.
Manufacturers today are increasingly turning to
smart sensing machine vision technology to ensure “right first
time” products, to automate complex or mundane visual inspection
tasks. The Group sees opportunities for applications to be used
across even more use cases and industries than today, which
currently span: medical; orthopaedics; pharmaceutical; automotive
inspection for mass production; electronics and food packaging.
The majority of IVS revenue today is derived
from UK/Ireland. As part of a larger group, IVS will have access,
advice and the resources to scale. It will be able to expand its
geographic footprint and grow its IP rich static technology
offering with opportunities to benefit from Vicon’s dynamic sensing
and further strengthen its already strong position through focused
investment in research and development.
IVS is a member of the British Standards
Institute, CE Marking Association and the Processing &
Packaging Machinery Association, in addition to being an accredited
member of the SafeContractor scheme. IVS’ vision solutions are FDA
and GAMP (Good Automated Manufacturing Practice) compliant. For
more information, visit www.industrialvision.co.uk
About Oxford Metrics
Oxford Metrics develops software that enables
the interface between the real world and its virtual twin. Our
smart sensing software helps over 10,000 customers in more than 70
countries, including all of the world’s top 10 games companies and
all of the top 20 universities worldwide. Founded in 1984, we
started our journey in healthcare, expanded into entertainment,
winning an OSCAR® and an Emmy®, then moved into defence and
engineering. We have a track record of creating value by
incubating, growing and then augmenting through acquisition, unique
technology businesses.
The Group trades through its market-leading
division: Vicon. Vicon is a world leader in motion measurement
analysis to thousands of customers worldwide, including Guy’s
Hospital, Industrial Light & Magic, MIT and NASA.
The Group is headquartered in Oxford with
offices in California, Colorado, Auckland, and Kempten. Since 2001,
Oxford Metrics (LSE: OMG), has been a quoted company listed on AIM,
a market operated by the London Stock Exchange. For more
information about Oxford Metrics, visit www.oxfordmetrics.com
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