QinetiQ ANNOUNCES ACQUISITION OF BOLDON JAMES

24 Oct 07. QinetiQ Group plc announces today that it has completed the acquisition of Boldon James Holdings Limited from ISIS Equity Partners, the management team and other staff who hold shares following the exercise of options. The acquisition represents the continuing execution of QinetiQ’s strategy to grow its Europe, Middle East and Australasia (EMEA) capabilities. It has been settled for an initial cash consideration of around £15.7m, with a further payment of around £4.3m depending on the achievement of specific performance criteria.

Boldon James is a UK-based provider of software solutions for high end secure messaging, primarily for military, government and security customers worldwide. In December 2006 the company was named Microsoft’s worldwide ‘Go to market partner’ for messaging in defence and homeland security. Its core products compliment Microsoft Windows, UNIX and Fujitsu VME messaging platforms.

The acquisition will enhance QinetiQ’s portfolio of security based software products, providing additional routes to market in the USA, Europe and the Asia Pacific regions and broadening its customer base. Bolden James’ principal customers are international systems integrators, such as EDS, EADS, IBM, Fujitsu and Steria, through which they provide their products. Other customers or end users include the UK’s MoD, the German Bundeswehr and the US Department of Defense, and numerous other government departments worldwide.

Commenting on the agreement, QinetiQ’s chief executive officer Graham Love said: “This acquisition is part of the ongoing process to shape our EMEA business by growing our capabilities and extending our geographic footprint. Boldon James brings us established product and service offerings in our strategic markets, and a track record of taking software products to market that augments our own expertise.”

Boldon James’ chief executive officer Martin Sugden commented: “We are delighted to be joining QinetiQ. They provide a superb channel to market and complementary expertise, enabling Boldon James to leverage our already strong market position.”

Boldon James employs around 70 people, with offices in Crewe and Maidenhead.

This is a smart move by Qinetiq and moves the company into the specialist software messaging business. Boldon James was at CWID 2007 and its systems have been used by BAE Systems for naval applications in particular. (See: BATTLESPACE UPDATE Vol.9 ISSUE 40). Boldon James is a competitor of Systematics.

On Oct 5th Boldon James announced another contract to supply SAFEmail version 2.2, our Secure Formal Email offering based on a Microsoft platform (Exchange & Outlook). The British Royal Navy’s new class of anti-air warfare Destroyer, the Type 45, is recognized as being the most advanced and powerful ships of its kind due to its state of the art communications, radar, weapons and countermeasure systems. British Aerospace (BAe) has received orders for up to 8 ships from the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MoD), the first of which – HMS Daring – is due for delivery into service in 2010. On completion of Daring’s current sea trials, another 5 will follow; Dauntless and Diamond due for service in 2011, and thereafter the Duncan, Dragon and Defender at six monthly intervals.