CompliSpace has been acquired by UK-listed Ideagen for an upfront cash consideration of AUD$105 million (approximately £57.7 million) plus a deferred conditional earnout.
Ideagen provides global software and services to highly regulated industries such as aviation, financial services, life science, healthcare and manufacturing with operations throughout the UK, Europe, the United States, the Middle East and South-East Asia.
CompliSpace is unique in Australia in that it provides risk-based software programs and education to high impact organisations in several highly regulated sectors, including education, aged care and financial services – all of which have had Royal Commissions examine their practices in recent years.
The acquisition means CompliSpace will be able to expand its RegTech software as a service offering around the world.
As part of the transaction, CompliSpace CEO David Griffiths will remain as Regional Senior Vice President, and will continue holding a significant shareholding in the business.
“Joining Ideagen ensures that CompliSpace can fulfil our vision and purpose beyond Australia, and support schools and aged care facilities to better service their customers across Asia, North America, the UK and Europe,” Mr Griffiths said. “We look forward to bringing Ideagen’s world-class risk and compliance software services to Australia, while taking our software, expertise and skills to the world.”
Australia’s education sector attracts $66 billion a year in government funding, while aged care attracts more than $24 billion, or $27,000 and $24,000 per person, respectively.
Partly in exchange for government funding, both industries are highly regulated. However, they are both highly fragmented, providing challenges for hundreds of providers in meeting onerous compliance and regulatory requirements. CompliSpace helps meet that need.
CompliSpace currently has annualised revenues of approximately AUD$19.0 million (about £10.4 million) of which 88% is recurring and has grown by more than 20% over the last 12 months.
CompliSpace recorded revenue of AUD$15.4 million (approximately £8.4 million) for the year to 30 June 2021 with net assets of AUD$11.6 million (approximately £6.4 million) at that date.
Ideagen CEO Ben Dorks said “the acquisition of CompliSpace delivers three clear strategic objectives for Ideagen – a complimentary commercial offering with a compelling growth opportunity, a strong footprint in a new geography, and enhances our ARR. We see a significant opportunity to leverage CompliSpace’s Australian footprint with our existing product suite, whilst also expanding its customer base within Europe and North America – in line with our strategy to grow both our geographical and sector expertise. We are very excited to add CompliSpace to our business and underline our commitment to supporting customers operating in highly regulated environments with high quality software solutions across a range of platforms.”
Currently, CompliSpace has proven a cost-effective compliance and legal solution for more than 730 schools and more than 135 aged care facilities across the country.
The subscription-based model was founded in March 2007 and now has more than 90 staff with offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
