Beeks, Markets Trading Firm, Buys Velocimetrics

Glasgow-based Beeks Financial Cloud Group, a connectivity provider for financial markets trading, said on Wednesday it acquired Velocimetrics Limited, a UK-based “network monitoring and trade analytics software company.”

Beeks said the acquisition was made “for a base consideration of £1.3 million in cash and equity, plus contingent earn-out.”

The Glasgow company said it has concurrently entered into a new debt facility with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc totalling £1.5 million to fund the acquisition and provide additional growth capital for the enlarged group.

Beeks also gave an update on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on its business, reporting “minimal impact on current trading from measures implemented due to COVID-19, with continued operational cash generation, increased annualised contracted monthly recurring revenue (ACMRR) and recurring revenues of c.95% …”

Beeks reported “continued growth in new business, however new customer implementations may be delayed.”

Beeks Financial Cloud CEO Gordon McArthur said: “While the group is focused on organic growth, we continue to assess strategic acquisitions that will complement our business model and expand our offering.

“The acquisition of Velocimetrics accelerates our product roadmap, providing us with the ability to offer our clients network monitoring and trade analytics, increasing our competitive differentiation while minimising anticipated product development spend for this functionality.

“We believe the Velocimetrics offering will have wide applicability across our institutional customer base and look forward to welcoming the Velocimetrics team into the group and delivering on the opportunity ahead.

“We have experienced minimal impact on trading from the measures implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however we continue to monitor the situation closely, with the health and wellbeing of our staff in the UK and globally our priority.

“The group benefits from approximately 95% recurring revenues, a strong balance sheet, resilient business model and growing new business pipeline, therefore while we are unlikely to be entirely unimpacted, we believe we are in a strong position to withstand the current challenges.”