CentralNic Group - Acquisition of Codewise and £30m placing

CentralNic has announced the conditional US$36m asset-based acquisition (payable in cash on completion) of one of Team Internet’s closest competitors, Codewise, a domain monetisation business based in Poland. Based on the year to 30 June 2020, the deal values Codewise at 0.60x historical sales (US$60.3m) and 4.9x adjusted EBITDA (US$7.4m). The deal is being funded by way of a share placing, with CentralNic having placed 40m shares (21% of the equity) at 75p per share (a 6% discount to the 10 September closing price), raising gross proceeds of £30m. Assuming a year end completion date, we estimate that the deal will be materially (c 18%) EPS enhancing in FY21. The acquisition is highly complementary to the successful Team Internet acquisition, completed in December 2019, building CentralNic’s technology base and market share in domain monetisation, diversifying its client base and strengthening the group’s development capability and senior management team.