Apse buys TerraQuest for £72m

The minimum enterprise value will reach £61.8m, with a further £5m payment payable subject to the performance of the company in 2021, in addition to £3.2m in loan notes accruing rolled-up interest at a rate of 10% per annum, together with ordinary shares equating to 6.2% of the newco.

Apse typically backs European tech-enabled SMEs with enterprise values of €50-200m. It is open to taking either a majority or minority stake.

The firm will work with TerraQuest's management team to continue to grow the company, supporting the company's plans to further digitalise the entire land referencing and planning process, launch new services, and expand its geographical coverage.

The company is being carved out from Mears Group, which was considering offers for its mechanical and engineering division, deemed non-core to its mainstream operations, according to a report by Unquote sister publication Mergermarket in September. The group also revealed that it had received expressions of interest for Datacare, the data storage unit that came with the takeover of Supporta, the care services group.

Previous funding
Human resources firm Supporta acquired TQS – as the company was then known – for up to £9.27m in November 2006.

Mears then acquired Supporta in 2009.

Company
Founded in 1972 and based in Gloucester, TerraQuest is a land and planning services company. The company's core business delivers data and technology products, ranging from bespoke systems to detailed geographical information, land referencing and business process outsourcing. It generated revenues of £20.9m and profit before tax of £4.9m in 2019.

People
Apse Capital – Tim Green (managing partner).
TerraQuest – Geoff Keal (managing director).

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• Topics
• Buyouts
• UK / Ireland
• Support services
• United Kingdom
• Carve-out