RM kisses wannabe American cousin

RM has bought US-based education technology provider Computrac for £8m.

The firm said in a statement today that the company will be integrated with the RM Educational Software Inc arm of the biz, which is the group’s US subsidiary.

Computrac designs, supplies and installs interactive classroom tech products including whiteboards, audio-visual gear and digital projectors to over 10,000 schools in the southeastern US.

RM’s current international managing director will relocate from Boston to Atlanta to oversee the takeover and run the newly combined business, while Computrac’s existing senior management team will stay in place, said RM.

Computrac pulled in revenues in the year ended July 2008 of $28.8m, with operating income of $1.3m, according to RM, which under the deal will stump up an initial cash consideration of $3m and take on debt of $4.3m.

A further $0.7m deferred consideration is payable in cash, subject to the “achievement of certain performance conditions.”

RM said these amounts are being bankrolled from a £25m, five-year facility agreed with HSBC in July this year.

Shrugging off the financial crisis reverberating through Wall Street and the City, the UK-based firm’s boss Terry Sweeney said he sees the buy bringing in “significant market potential in the US.

“This acquisition is a major step forward in our international expansion, bringing critical mass to our US presence,” he said. ®