IndigoVision acquires Agorasys SA for €3.0 million

LONDON: IndigoVision Group has announced the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Agorasys SA for a consideration of up to €3.0 million, of which €2.3 million is payable in cash at completion to clear Agora’s existing financial indebtedness.

 Based in Lisbon, Portugal, Agora was founded by Pedro Soares, Chief Executive Officer and Bernardo Motta, International Business Development Manager, as a spin-out from Instituto Superior Tecnico, part of the University of Lisbon.

The Company provides a unified “command and control” software platform that integrates different security systems from multiple vendors, including IndigoVision’s Control Center video management software. Agora’s software provides business processes, procedures and auditing tools to allow users to audit and analyse the entire operation from any location with an internet connection.

The Company’s software also allows users to increase productivity in their organisations by implementing standard operating procedures that enable operators to efficiently control all equipment, on-site guards and vehicles.

Agora revenues were €1.3 million for the year ended 31 December 2018 and the operating profit for the year was €0.1 million. The Company had net assets of €0.1 million at 31 December 2018.

Agora will continue to be run by the existing management team and Mr Soares and Mr Motta have entered into new contracts of employment with Agora in line with normal commercial terms in Portugal. Over the next year, the Group intends to invest an additional €0.5 million in further developing the Agora software for the benefit of IndigoVision’s enterprise customers. It is expected that Agora will only become a material contributor to the Group’s financial performance following completion of this transitional period and investment phase.

The acquisition of Agora represents an important building block in meeting the Board of IndigoVision’s ambition to turn the Group into one of the leading players in the video security solution space, for the benefit of our customers, our employees and our shareholders.

The first stage of the turnaround plan started two years ago with the restructuring of the Board and the executive team. This first stage was internally focused: running our business better, and involved significant organisational and senior personnel change across most departments. While this process will remain ongoing, much of the heavy lifting has now been done.

“The next stage of our plan involves looking outwards and carefully analysing the market in which we operate. The industry we are in is highly fragmented with no dominant players nor dominant business models for the markets we target. A customer can select from a host of companies that provide either software or hardware or a combination of both. The Group has, at points in its history, been a developer of software, a manufacturer of cameras or a supplier of OEM cameras. Over the last six months the Board has been considering in depth what would be the optimal long term strategy and the culmination of this process is the launch of our new business plan referred to as IndigoVision 2020,” a statement said.

IndigoVision 2020 sets out the Group’s future strategic direction and has been created to assist the Group in capitalising on the growing demand from the global video security solutions market.

IndigoVision 2020 positions the Group as a provider of next generation end-to-end video security management solutions that deliver safety, security and business intelligence.