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HgCapital Trust PLC on Tuesday confirmed its manager, Hg, has agreed to the sale of bookkeeping platform Dext Software Ltd to IRIS Software Group for an undisclosed sum. Though the sale’s terms have not been confirmed, the transaction valued HGCapital Trust’s stake in Dext at around £32.7 million. This represents a 13% uplift over the carrying net asset value of £29.1 million, which HGCapital reported at September 30. HgCapital Trust, a London-based investor in European and transatlantic software companies, said pro-forma NAV is expected to be 523.0p per share after the deal closes. The investor estimated its available liquid resources, including £347 million for future deployment, were worth £445 million. London-based buyer IRIS Software Group, which specialises in accountancy, education management, human resources and payroll technology, said the deal will result in ‘an end-to-end’ accounting solution. Dext, also based in London, runs bookkeeping software with artificial intelligence. IRIS plans to build a seamless platform by merging Dext’s software with its own. IRIS will invest further capital into Dext, it said, aiming for the acquisition to fuel expansion across the UK, Canada, France and Australia. Dext’s Chief Executive Officer Sabby Gill described the sale as ‘an exciting new chapter’ offering staff the chance to grow, but did not comment on Dext’s relationship with outgoing owner HgCapital Trust. A predicted date for the deal’s closure is yet to be specified. HGCapital Trust shares rose by 1.0% to 533.26 pence each on Tuesday morning in London. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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