Pertmaster acquired by Americans

EMC Corporate Finance has completed the sale for an undisclosed sum of Guildford company Pertmaster Ltd to US-based Primavera Systems Inc.

Pertmaster, which is based at the Surrey Technology Centre, produces specialist software that allows blue-chip organisations – particularly those in the oil, gas, aerospace and defence industries – to model and assess the financial risks on complex projects.

Primavera, which has its headquarters near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the world’s leading project and portfolio management software company.

EMC director Desmond High, who has been working with Pertmaster since September 2005, said the deal was a natural one, arising from the product linkage of the two businesses.

EMC’s initial brief was to look at a range of development opportunities for Pertmaster, but as the sale of the business emerged as the most likely route forward, Desmond handled the negotiations with Primavera, managed the transaction through to completion and acted as de facto chief finance officer during the whole period.

He said: “The Pertmaster team are a highly intelligent and committed group and it was a pleasure to work with them. They are extremely commercial and thorough in their approach to business which is not always evident within organisations of their size. I know it made things much easier both for me and for the legal team at Mundays LLP.”

Although by far the smaller company – Pertmaster’s turnover for 2006 is expected to be around $5m compared to Primavera’s anticipated revenues in excess of $120m – the Pertmaster team will be significantly represented within Primavera’s own management including Russell Johnson, Pertmaster’s chief technology officer who becomes one of Primavera’s vice presidents, and Sarim Khan, the CEO of Pertmaster, who becomes general manager of the Pertmaster division.

Sarim Khan said: “We always knew that becoming part of Primavera was a likely option but the actual negotiations were complex as we had five shareholders with different holdings, all of whom, quite rightly, wanted to be involved in the process.

“Desmond was able to manage each individual’s expectations whilst also driving the best deal for the team as a whole. His hands-on involvement allowed us to remain focused on our business during a challenging few months, and we are delighted with the outcome.”

Mitch Codkind, the CFO of Primavera, added: “Cross-border negotiations are always difficult and it was essential that there were clear lines of communication between the parties. From my point of view the relationship we built with Desmond was critical to the success of the deal. Inevitably there were differences of opinion on some fundamental matters but he represented his client’s best interests professionally and fairly, and we found ways of resolving these differences amicably.”

Larry Leporte, the partner who led the Mundays legal team, commented: “We really enjoyed working with Desmond High and the Pertmaster directors as well as with Primavera and their advisors. There was a high degree of co-operation among the parties and it looks as if the Primavera/Pertmaster combination is going to be a great success.”