Australian SaaS company TechnologyOne is set to acquire UK-based higher education software provider Scientia for around £12 million, making it the company’s first international acquisition.
TechnologyOne said the acquisition would strengthen its offering in the higher education market, considering that 75% of institutions in Australia and 50% in the UK currently use Scientia’s products. The “likely consideration” for the acquisition will be £12 million and includes an initial payment of £6 million.
The acquisition will accelerate TechnologyOne’s growth and competitive position in the UK as well as having significant benefits in the Australian higher education market, according to Edward Chung, CEO of TechnologyOne.
“Scientia’s market leading product Syllabus Plus provides advanced academic timetabling and resource scheduling,” Chung added. “Their products provide mission critical software for over 150 leading universities across the United Kingdom, and Australia including the University of St Andrews, University of Exeter, Monash University and the University of Queensland.”
Chung added that integrating Scientia’s product with TechnologyOne’s student management, HR and payroll, enterprise asset management, and finance capabilities will provide “smarter decision-making eliminating underutilisation of space and resources that is paramount for Higher Education across the globe in a post-covid world”.
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Scientia was founded in 1989 to develop AI resource scheduling products for education, defence, and industry, with its timetabling system for schools launched in December of the same year. Its latest product, Syllabus Plus Anywhere, was launched in 2017 and is an integrated cloud platform that supports the company’s timetabling and resource management applications.
“This is our company’s first international acquisition and it demonstrates our deep commitment to serving the higher education sector and the UK market,” said Adrian Di Marco, TechnologyOne founder and executive chairman.
“The unique IP and market-leading functionality of Scientia’s product supports our vision of delivering enterprise software that is incredibly easy to use. We are excited about the opportunities this will bring to both our UK and Australian customers in the coming years,” he added.
