Manufacturing management software house Kewill Systems Plc, Weybridge, Surrey is creating some German lebensraum for its products by acquiring CAD/CAM developer and distributor HAN Dataport for UKP8.4m paid in cash and shares over two years. The HAN Dataport companies operate mainly in the German-speaking countries on the continent – Austria, West Germany and Switzerland. They developed out of the close relationship between the construction and structural engineering consultancy HAN Engineering and the third party CAD/CAM software house Dataport GmbH. These two companies originally came together to distribute a software package known as CAD 200 throughout the continent. In 1988 the new CAD 420 package was introduced to this market by HAN Dataport and has proved so successful that the German group has doubled its profits to the equivalent of UKP1.5m in the past financial year on the back of its sales. CAD 420 runs under Hewlett-Packard’s HP/UX and IBM’s AIX operating systems and, yes, it is already up and running on IBM’s spanking new RS/6000 machine. Kewill, with manufacturing control software such as Micross and its subsidiary Omicron’s accountancy package already offers a total product suite for small manufacturing companies. However, throughout the 15 months that Kewill has been negotiating with HAN Dataport it has been porting its products to Unix and is now in a position to combine its software with CAD 420. Kewill is paying HAN Dataport the equivalent of UKP3m in cash – UKP600,000 up front and the balance over two years, provided 1989 pre-tax profits are as warranted, and allotting the German holding company 1.9m shares which will effectively give it a 20% stake in the enlarged Kewill after three years. Aside from the CAD 420 package for which Kewill acquires the property and distribution rights, the UK company is also getting access to East European markets. This is because HAN Dataport already has deals with Hewlett-Packard to sell its software into the USSR and Czechoslovakia and will be in a similar position with IBM to attack the Hungarian market once Comecon regulations are sorted out. As a result of the acquisition Kewill will double in size, having a turnover of approximately UKP37m.
