GOFORE PLC COMPANY ANNOUNCEMENT, INSIDE INFORMATION 10 AUGUST 2020 AT 13.10
Qentinel Finland becomes a part of Gofore
Gofore Plc has today agreed to acquire Qentinel Finland Oy, a specialist in software testing automation. The debt-free purchase price is EUR 8.9 million. Gofore estimates that the acquisition’s net sales impact on the group’s financial statements will be approximately EUR 4 million in 2020. The deal is estimated to be completed on 1 September 2020.
As a result of the acquisition, Gofore will become one of the most important providers of professional services in digital quality assurance in Finland.
Qentinel Finland is a professional IT services provider specialized in software quality assurance and testing automation with approximately 100 employees. In 2019, Qentinel Finland’s net sales were EUR 12.0 million and operating profit (EBIT) EUR 1.7 million. The company’s clientele consists of major private sector organisations and public sector clients, such as Finnish Tax Administration, KONE, and Elisa.
Gofore provides services needed by its clients in their digital transformation. The digital quality assurance services of Qentinel Finland will complement Gofore Group’s professional services offering. In addition, Qentinel’s superior testing automation and quality assurance expertise will improve Gofore’s ability to act as a provider with principal responsibility in large scale software projects.
“Digital change means information systems environments that are constantly becoming more complex and changing at an accelerating pace. For our customers, this means that quality assurance and ensuring functionality is increasingly an ongoing process, not just the final step in a development project. In this development, we want to help our customers”, says CEO Mikael Nylund from Gofore.
Qentinel Finland Oy will continue to operate as an independent company, reported as part of the Gofore Group as of 1 September 2020. As a result of cross-selling of services, synergies are expected to arise in client operations. As part of the Gofore Group, Qentinel Finland will make use of the group’s services to boost its growth.
“We think of Qentinel as an independent company belonging to the Gofore network. We expect Qentinel to continue to report growth and profitability in line with the group’s targets. As the Gofore network, we will support and help boost Qentinel’s growth. We have a shared understanding of a modern organisational culture, so Qentinel’s employees are a great fit for the Gofore community,“ Mikael Nylund says.
Purchase price to be paid in cash
The debt-free purchase price agreed is EUR 8.9 million. An additional purchase price has been agreed based on the EBITDA as stated in the current year’s financial results. Gofore expects the additional purchase price to total EUR 1–2 million.
Also included in the purchase price is a compensation for net cash on the execution date. The purchase price will be paid in cash.
Qentinel to continue developing its Qentinel Pace product
The acquisition includes Qentinel’s service business operations in Finland, as operated within Qentinel Finland Oy. Qentinel will continue to develop its Qentinel Pace product. The company provides a SaaS-based solution in which solutions learned and developed in deliveries are made scalable available to all clients from the cloud. Both companies will continue to cooperate by making use of Qentinel Pace in client projects.
“The everyday life of people is increasingly dependent on information systems. As a result, the quality and reliability of IT systems is more important than ever. Qentinel will strengthen Gofore with its testing, software automation, and DevOps expertise. Our cloud-based automation product Qentinel Pace has already been the basis of our good cooperation. Together we will help our clients create brilliant digital services in an agile way, fast and certain of their high quality,” says Esko Hannula, CEO of Qentinel Finland.
Qentinel Finland Oy key figures
| 2019 | 2018 | |
| Income statement | ||
| Net sales | 12.0 | 10.4 |
| EBITDA | 1.7 | 0.7 |
| Operating profit (EBIT) | 1.7 | 0.8 |
| Balance sheet | 31 December 2019 |
| Non-current assets | 0.1 |
| Long-term Group receivables | 0.9 |
| Short-term Group receivables | 0.3 |
| Short-term receivables | 1.9 |
| Cash and cash equivalents | 1.5 |
| Non-currents assets total | 4.7 |
| Equities and liabilities | |
| Shareholders’ equity | 0.1 |
| Long-term Group liabilities | 0.4 |
| Short-term Group liabilities | 1.7 |
| Short-term debt | 2.5 |
| Equities and liabilities total | 4.7 |
Further information:
Mikael Nylund, CEO, Gofore Plc
tel. + 358 40 540 2280
mikael.nylund@gofore.com
Esko Hannula, CEO, Qentinel Finland Oy
tel. +358 40 553 1577
esko.hannula@qentinel.com
Certified Adviser Evli Bank Plc, tel. +358 40 579 6210
Gofore Plc is a Finland-based digitalization specialist with international growth plans. Together with our customers, we are pioneering an ethical digital world. We’re made up of over 600 impact-driven people across Finland, Germany, Spain and Estonia – top experts in our industry who are our company’s heart, brain, and hands. We use consulting, coding and design as tools to incite positive change. We care for our people, our customers, and the surrounding world. Our values guide our business: Gofore is a great workplace that thrives on customer success. In 2019, our net sales amounted to EUR 64.1 million. Gofore Plc’s shares are quoted in the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. Learn more: www.gofore.com.
Qentinel is an international software testing and quality assurance company. We accelerate software development and improve the user experience with robotic software testing. We are creating the next generation of automated QA without humans in the loop. Qentinel was founded in 2002 and we employ over 130 people. We are located in Espoo, Tampere, Düsseldorf and Chicago. https://qentinel.com.