Serco Group purchases Dublin company CCM Software

Serco Group of the UK has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Irish company CCM Software Services Limited for an initial consideration of £8.6m (€13.4m) with further deferred consideration of up to £4.2m (€6.5m) subject to achieving performance targets.

CCM, formed in 1987 and based in Dublin, specialises in the design and development of scheduling, resource allocation and finance systems for schools. CCM has over 1,700 customers, which includes nearly all secondary schools in Ireland, 700 UK schools and 80 universities.

In the year to July 31, 2002 CCM recorded sales of £3.6m (€5.6m) and generated an operating profit of £638,000 (€1m).

The acquisition, after financing and implementation costs and goodwill, is expected to be earnings neutral in 2003.

Serco says that the use of high quality data is at the core of the drive by any government to raise standards in the education sector. Schools therefore need systems and processes that enable them to collate and analyse the wealth of information that is available to them. They also require systems that meet the developing school agenda. Serco sees CCM's range of products and markets make it an ideal fit with Serco's business goals and offers significant opportunities in this sector.