Sage To Acquire Brightpearl

Acquisition expands Sage Intacct’s reach in the retail and ecommerce vertical

Toronto, ON (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - The Sage Group plc (FTSE: SGE), the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses, today announces that it has agreed to acquire Brightpearl, a cloud native multichannel retail management system for retailers and wholesalers. The acquisition of Brightpearl, in which Sage already has a 17% minority stake, accelerates Sage’s strategy for growth, including scaling Sage Intacct, broadening the value proposition for mid-sized businesses and expanding Sage’s digital network.

With operations in the US and the UK, Brightpearl provides a SaaS-based retail operating system, enabling real-time business insights and helping customers automate workflows to save time and money. The combination of Sage Intacct and Brightpearl will create a powerful solution for retailers and wholesalers which integrates financial management, inventory planning, sales order management, purchasing and supplier management, CRM, fulfilment, warehousing and logistics management.

The consideration for the 83% of Brightpearl that Sage does not already own is $299m (£225m), which will be funded from Sage’s existing cash and available liquidity.

For the year ending December 2021, Brightpearl is expected to generate revenues of $27m (£20m), representing growth of around 50% compared to the prior year, and to achieve operating profit around the breakeven level.

The transaction is subject to regulatory clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act in the US, and is expected to close in January 2022.

Steve Hare, Chief Executive Officer of Sage, commented:
“Sage’s purpose is to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive. Together, Sage and Brightpearl will remove the barriers that hold back retailers and wholesalers, streamlining their systems and enabling them to focus on growth. I’m delighted to welcome Brightpearl, its management team and colleagues to Sage, and look forward to executing on our strategic priorities together and delivering accelerated growth.”

Derek O’Carroll, Chief Executive Officer of Brightpearl, commented:
“We are thrilled to be joining Sage. Bringing our two teams together will combine the retail strength of Brightpearl and the scale, brand and financial expertise of Sage, enabling us to offer customers the most innovative financial and retail operating solutions so they can grow fearlessly, save time and deliver outstanding experiences.”

About Sage
Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of small and mid-sized businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.

About Brightpearl
Based in Bristol (UK) and Austin, Texas (US), Brightpearl provides a retail operating system (ROS) for retailers and wholesalers. Its mission is clear: automate the back office so merchants can spend their time and money growing the business. Brightpearl’s ROS includes financial management, inventory and sales order management, purchasing and supplier management, CRM, fulfillment, warehouse and logistics. In addition, the system has high-performing connectors to the major ecommerce platforms, including Magento, BigCommerce and Shopify. Brightpearl’s platform manages over 10m transactions and $5bn of business a year.

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