LDC divests Kirona to Living Bridge

LDC made a 2.2x return on its initial investment and will continue to hold a minority stake in the company alongside Living Bridge.

Under its new owner, Kirona intends to grow its international operations, develop its suite of products and conduct bolt-on acquisitions.

It also stated the transaction process took 10 weeks following the deal agreement with Living Bridge.

Living Bridge claims the field force automation market is worth more than £500m per year in the UK. The GP typically invests between £2-40m in companies with revenues of more than £1m.

Debt financing
A debt package for the deal has been provided by RBS.

Previous funding
LDC purchased Kirona as part of an all-equity management buyout in December 2011. Kirona acquired Xmbrace, a scheduling software company, in 2012. LDC provided follow-on financing to fund the transaction, which increased Kirona's turnover from £3m in 2010/11 to £7m for the 2012/13 financial year.

Company
Founded in 2003 by David Murray and Neil Harvey, Kirona develops workflow management software. Its mobile apps communicate with back office systems over the cloud.

Headquartered in Alderley Edge, Kirona's software is used by 25,000 mobile workers worldwide from 300 companies. Clients can automatically schedule jobs and streamline workflow by connecting clients, the office and mobile workers. Kirona partners with BT, Vodafone and Capita – among others – to distribute its technology.

It has 73 employees and has trebled its turnover in the last three years.

People
Living Bridge's investment was conducted by the Manchester-based team of Pete Clarke, Nick Holder, Mo Aneese and Oliver Mauldridge. Clarke will take a seat on the Kirona board. David Murray is CEO of Kirona. Investment director Simon Braham and director Jonathan Bell led the original MBO for LDC.

Advisers
Equity – Gunnercooke, Tim Hamilton, Sam Ogden (Legal); Clearwater International, Mark Taylor, Tom Barnwell (Debt advisory); Parthenon, Paul Ahern, Ben Hampson (Commercial due diligence); DSW, Ed Brentnall, Nicola Merritt (Financial due diligence); Intechnica, Jeremy Gidlow, Andy Still (IT due diligence); PwC, Simon Viner, Usman Choudhary (Tax).
Vendor – Gateley, Paul Jefferson (Legal).
Management – Pinsent Mason, Gregg Davison, James Fitzgibbon (Legal); Baker Tilly, Colin Smyth (Tax).
Debt – Addleshaw Goddard, Richard Oman (Legal).

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