Quadnetics pays £9m for German rival to establish a European base

Quadnetics said the acquisition is highly complementary to its Sheffield-based Synectics division and will accelerate Synectics’ expansion into specialist transport surveillance markets in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe.

It said it should also boost sales of Synectics’ high security surveillance systems in these regi- ons.

Munich-based Indanet’s main customers include Deutsche Bahn and public transport organisations in Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt.

In the year to December 31, Indanet reported turnover of £5m and a pre-tax profit of £175,000. Indanet’s turnover has grown at a compound rate of 30 per cent a year for the past three years. Indanet’s management have agreed to stay on with the business.

Quadnetics believes that Indanet has substantial growth opportunities and it will provide around £1.3m of post-acquisition financing to allow Indanet to pursue them.

John Shepherd, Quadnetics’ chief executive, said: “Indanet brings to Quadnetics a strong base in Germany, which we have identified as the ideal European base for expanding all of Synectics’ product offerings into central, eastern and northern Europe, something which is difficult to do from the UK.

“Culturally, Indanet is an excellent fit with our Synectics divisions, as the deep engineering and technical backgrounds are very similar.”