Bittnet Group calls shareholders to approve new M&A transactions up to 200 million lei  

Bucharest, 30 July 2021 – Bittnet (BNET), a group of IT companies listed on the Main Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange, announces the new round of M&A transactions that will consolidate the Group’s position in the training, cybersecurity and software development markets. The company convenes shareholders for September 7th, to approve five potential investments in the total amount of 16.9 million lei as well as to vote to mandate the Board of Directors to engage in M&As on the local and regional market in a total cumulated value of 200 million lei.  

“We announce today new strategic acquisitions for Bittnet Group that will strengthen our position in training, cybersecurity, and software development market locally and abroad. We are thrilled that we will welcome the new teams to our Group and that we will partner with founders who have the same vision for the Romanian IT market. Today, Bittnet Group is an important player in the Romanian market, investing heavily in the development of companies and continuing to grow market share annually. Because of that, we are an attractive partner for companies willing to consolidate their position in the market, some of them being our competitors in the past. With new acquisitions, we are getting closer to the target of 100 million euro turnover, a goal that we have promised to our shareholders that we will reach by 2025,” said Mihai Logofatu, CEO at Bittnet Group.

Bittnet Group proposes to the shareholders acquisition of a 61% stake in the software developer Nenos Software SRL and 60% in Nonlinear SRL, 70% in the cybersecurity company ISEC Associates SRL, as well as the acquisition of 100% of the IT&C training company, Computer Learning Center SRL. Following the proposed transactions, the Technology Division will grow both as a geographical footprint and as a type of solution offered by Bittnet Group.

By acquiring Nenos Software SRL and Nonlinear SRL from Toader Toporau, Bittnet Group will consolidate its position in the software development division and will enter the artificial intelligence sector. Bittnet currently holds a 22.5% stake in Softbinator Technologies SA, a software development company. Following the transaction, Bittnet will hold a 61% stake in Nenos Software and a 60% stake in Nonlinear SRL. In both companies, the remaining stake will be held by the founder, Toader Toporau. The value of the deal is 4.85 million lei; half of the sum will be paid in cash and half in Bittnet shares. Nenos Software has over seven years of experience in software development. It offers B2B clients a large variety of solutions built using human and artificial intelligence. Nenos and Nonlinear will strengthen the software development part of the Group, which was established in December 2020 following the acquisition of a 25% stake in Softbinator Technologies SA.

“We are excited to join Bittnet Group since we truly believe that together, we will be stronger. Under the same umbrella, together with our teams, we will focus on what we know best – software development and delivering the best AI solutions to our clients. Our target for next year is ambitious – doubling the turnover and doubling the number of colleagues. We also want to actively engage in developing the market for AI solutions by informing the market about the opportunities that artificial intelligence can bring to companies,” said Toader Toporau, founder and CEO of Nenos Software.

Bittnet will also take over two companies from Provision Group – a cybersecurity company ISEC Associates and IT training company Computer Learning Centre. ISEC Associates is a company founded in 2003, specialized in complete security audits, consulting and testing services. ISEC helps companies identify, assess, secure, and manage information security. By acquiring ISEC, Bittnet intends to grow its position in the cybersecurity market. The company does not exclude further M&As in this sector. Following the transaction in the amount of 295,000 lei, an amount which will be paid cash, Bittnet will hold a 70% stake in ISEC while the remaining 30% will be held by founder Alexandru Andriescu. Bittnet also plans, subject to shareholder’s approval, to provide ISEC loans in the total amount of 241,000 euro over the next two years.

The Education Division will enlarge with two companies: Computer Learning Center and Datascript SRO. Computer Learning Centre is an important player in the training market, specialized in information security, audit, IT service management courses. The acquisition price for CLC is 225,000 lei, a sum that will be fully paid in cash in exchange for 100% of share capital. Additionally, Bittnet will provide CLC with a loan amounting to 420,000 euros in the next two years. By acquiring CLC, a former competitor, Bittnet Group will strengthen its training division as well as will enlarge the certifications portfolio, especially in the cybersecurity sector.

At the shareholder’s meeting, the shareholders will also vote on the previously announced transaction of acquisition of 20% of shares in Czech company Datascript SRO, granting of loans up to 500,000 euro to Datascript as well as ratification of Bittnet Group’s investment in the private placement of Arctic Stream S.A., company that recently floated on the AeRO market. Moreover, the shareholders will vote on mandating the Board of Directors of Bittnet Group to conclude new M&A transactions for a total cumulated amount of 200 million lei till the end of 2025.

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About Bittnet Group

Bittnet was founded in 2007 in Bucharest, by brothers Mihai and Cristian Logofătu, as a company offering IT training and IT solutions in Romania and abroad. Today, Bittnet is a Group of companies in the IT field of which the following brands are part: Bittnet Training, Dendrio, ELIAN Solutions, Equatorial Gaming, the eLearning Company and Softbinator. Bittnet Training is the leader of the IT training market in Romania, with over 15 years of experience and the largest team of IT trainers in Romania. Equatorial is a game-based learning company specialized in providing transformative training and consulting programs at the individual, team and organizational levels in Romania and abroad. Dendrio is the only multi-cloud integrator in Romania, consolidating its position as a company certified by the most important IT providers globally, focusing on cloud security and cybersecurity. Elian Solutions specializes in providing Microsoft Dynamics NAV Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation services.

Bittnet Group is listed on the Main Market of the Bucharest Stock Exchange under the BNET symbol. As of March 22, 2021, BNET shares are included in two global indices: FTSE Global Micro-Cap and FTSE Total-Cap.