Nitro to acquire Belgian eSign company Connective for AU$110m
Australian-based document productivity software firm Nitro Software has grand plans to expand and conquer the global eSign market, starting with the AU$110 million (€70 million) acquisition of Connective, a European eSign company.
As part of the acquisition, Nitro will raise AU$140 million to support the purchase, comprising $80 institutional placement and a $60 million accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer.
Connective has more than 1,000 customers across 13 countries including Belgium and France where the company works across mid-market, enterprise, and government customers, including major banks and government agencies in Belgium.
The company also provides eID and smartcard support with more than 30 identity and smart card integrations across more than 20 countries.
Nitro sees opportunity in the eSign market, which supports the company's aims. According to Nitro cofounder and CEO Sam Chandler, the acquisition marks a milestone in the company's growth story as it seeks to be one of the top players in the eSign market.
"At a time where increased trust, security, and regulatory compliance are vital to business success. With data privacy and security at a premium, the future of eSigning is built around high-trust eID-driven solutions.
The acquisition will also complement Nitro's enterprise eSign capabilities, adding providing high-trust signing via full Advanced Electronic Signature ('AES') and Qualified Electronic Signature ('QES') functionality and other products to the Nitro Productivity Platform.
"Connective's Smart Document solution will also further bolster Nitro's offering, making document workflow automation easy, powerful and available to all. There are a multitude of opportunities to drive additional demand of the Connective offerings within Nitro's platform through our global customer and partner networks.
"Nicolas Metiver and his team have built a world-class company that tightly aligns with our mission of delivering best-in-breed, high value technologies with unparalleled customer service experience and we couldn't be more excited to welcome the entire Connective team to the Nitro family.
Connective CEO Nicolas Metivier says Nitro aligns with Connective's mission, vision, and company values.
"It was clear to me how Connective's market leading solutions could scale even further as part of the Nitro Productivity Platform."
"Our eSign and eID solutions have helped us establish a formidable presence in Europe and with Nitro's customer base and global reach, we are excited to expand this presence around the world.
Nitro states that the combined companies will reach more than 13,000 customers and an expanded channel partner network that will provide upsell and cross-sell opportunities are expected to deliver significant revenue upside.
Connective will operate as an indirect subsidiary of Nitro once the acquisition is complete.
