Acquisition Will Provide Strong Construction Collaboration Market Footprint Throughout Europe

/EINPresswire.com/ -- MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA and MUNICH, GERMANY -- (Marketwired) -- 03/17/16 -- Aconex Limited (ASX: ACX), provider of a leading cloud and mobile collaboration platform for the global construction industry, today announced an agreement to acquire Conject Holding GmbH, a leading cloud and mobile collaboration service provider in Europe and other regions, for a total cash consideration of EUR 65 million (A$96.0 million).(1) The transaction is expected to close on or about 31 March 2016, subject to customary closing conditions, including approval by Germany's Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

Strategic Synergies

"This acquisition will significantly expand our market penetration and user network throughout Europe, and will further consolidate our position as the leader, by revenue, in the global market for cloud-based construction collaboration solutions," said Aconex CEO Leigh Jasper. "Conject's customer base, business and culture are highly complementary to ours. Their footprint across Europe's largest construction and infrastructure markets -- particularly Germany, the U.K., France, and Russia -- will measurably strengthen our presence and further drive our global economies of scale by leveraging our existing infrastructure. We look forward to welcoming Conject's management and employees, integrating their operations, and serving their customers."

"On the close of this transaction, the merged company will be the world's market leader, by revenue, in cloud-based construction collaboration," said Dr. Ralf Händl, CEO of Conject. "We have worked beside Aconex for many years, building the construction collaboration industry and helping our customers deliver successful projects. We respect the strength of the company's global customer base and industry-leading technology. Together, as one organization, we can expand our penetration throughout the construction and infrastructure markets of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other regions. This business combination has the potential to accelerate the growth of our industry and deliver increasing value to our joint customers worldwide."

Aconex + Conject -- Leading the Global Construction Collaboration Market

The combination of the two businesses will create the leading provider of cloud-based construction collaboration solutions, by revenue, in Europe and worldwide. Europe constitutes the largest regional construction market after Asia. Germany, the U.K., France, and Russia ranked 5th, 7th, 8th, and 10th, respectively, in the world's top construction markets in 2014.(2)

Founded in Melbourne in 2000, Aconex connects teams project-wide for the largest and most complex projects across the construction, infrastructure, and energy and resources industries worldwide. The Aconex cloud collaboration platform and suite of solutions support all phases of the project lifecycle -- from feasibility, planning and tendering through design, construction, inspections, and handover for asset operation and maintenance. The platform includes project-wide collaboration capabilities for building information modelling (BIM).

The company's global customer base includes the world's leading asset owners, contractors, and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms. Aconex currently has nearly 500 employees located in 41 offices in 22 countries and serves over 4 million users, with more than 1.7 billion documents on its platform. For the financial half-year ended 31 December 2015, Aconex reported A$55.7 million in revenue, A$7.0 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), and A$5.3 million in net profit after tax (NPAT).(3)

Conject, the Infrastructure Lifecycle Management (ILM) Group, was founded in 2000 in Germany and acquired BIW Technologies, a U.K. construction collaboration software provider founded in 1995. The company is today a leading provider of enterprise and project collaboration solutions to the largest construction and infrastructure markets in Europe. Conject's current product portfolio supports the plan-build-operate lifecycle of assets. For project management, the company provides a cross-company collaboration platform which operates both on premise and in the cloud and includes BIM functionality. Conject also offers solutions for mobility, financial planning and contract management, mobile inspections and defects management, and workspace and facility management.

Headquartered in Munich, Conject currently has approximately 210 employees located in 12 offices in nine countries. The company has served large, complex construction and infrastructure projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other regions, with a customer base of more than 670 asset owners/operators and contractors and with users in approximately 50 countries. Major customers include:

• ArcelorMittal/Nippon Steel (Germany)
• Stiftung Zollverein (Germany)
• Bank Austria
• The National Grid (U.K.)
• University of Manchester (U.K.)
• Groupe Vinci (France)
• BNP Paribas Residentiel (France)
• Spectrum Holding (Russia)
• Mace (Poland)
• Changi Airport Authority (Singapore)
• Hyundai (United Arab Emirates).
  
  

For the financial year ended 31 December 2015, Conject generated EUR 24.5 million (A$36.1 million) in revenue and EUR 0.8 million (A$1.1 million) in EBITDA.

Leveraging Expertise in Cost Control and BIM

Aconex believes that Conject's successful experience in marketing, selling and supporting its Project Controls solution will benefit the commercial launch of the Aconex connected cost module later in calendar year 2016. This module will provide unified cost control across the project lifecycle, including claims and payments, contract administration, earned value management (EVM), budgeting, cost performance, and forecasting. The cloud-based cost control solution was acquired with Worksite in July 2015 and has been subsequently integrated with the Aconex collaboration platform.

Aconex also believes that the Conject acquisition will help drive penetration of its Aconex Connected BIM solution in the U.K. and other European markets leading the adoption of BIM for construction projects. Aconex Connected BIM manages multidimensional modelling data and processes for project-wide collaboration between design and construction teams and handover to the asset owner. The company envisions similar leverage for Aconex Field, which enables field safety and quality inspections and defects management on mobile devices.

About Aconex

Aconex Limited provides a leading cloud collaboration platform for the global construction industry. This platform connects owners, contractors and their project teams in the construction, infrastructure, and energy and resources sectors, providing project-wide visibility and control between the many different organizations collaborating across their projects. With more than 60,000 user organizations and over $1 trillion of project value delivered in more than 70 countries, Aconex is the industry's most widely adopted and trusted platform. Founded in 2000, Aconex has 41 offices in 22 countries around the world, including headquarters in Melbourne, Australia and San Francisco, California. The company's ordinary shares are traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker code ACX.

Supporting Resources

For more information on Aconex, please visit:

• Website: http://www.aconex.com
• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/aconex
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/aconex
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aconex
  
  

About Conject

Conject is a leading international software company, providing cloud and mobile solutions to support BIM and manage key processes throughout the plan-build-operate lifecycle for the real estate as well as architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries. The Conject mission is to help its clients increase quality, reduce costs and better manage risks across their property and infrastructure portfolios. For more information see www.conject.com.

(1) Conversion from EUR to AUD at 0.677.

(2) Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics, Global Construction 2030, November 2015. The projected ranking of the top European markets in 2030 is Germany #8, UK #6, France #9, and Russia #11.

(3) See the ASX market disclosure dated 23 February 2016, http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160223/pdf/4357p6d3cyjyzk.pdf

Aconex Contact:

Tod Bottari
+1 650 538 3309
Email Contact

Conject Contact:

Yvonne Maier
+49 89 95414-419
Email Contact

Agency Contacts:

One Chocolate Communications
Daniel Couzens
+44 (0)20 7437 0227
Email Contact

Citadel-MAGNUS
Matthew Gregorowski
+61 2 9290 3033
Email Contact

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