East Mids accountancy assists international software vendor's acquisition of Lutterworth SAAS provider

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 4 August 2022

A partner at the Nottingham office of accountancy UHY Hacker Young has completed the sale of office education and support tools firm Combined Knowledge to an international software vendor.

Lutterworth-based Combined Knowledge, which was founded in 2003, has been acquired by AvePoint EduTech, a software-as-a-service solutions (SaaS) provider.

Combined Knowledge uses training software to support the needs of employers for fluency across the Microsoft 365 package in and away from the office.

UHY Hacker Young has provided holistic support to the company for more than 14 years - including accounts, tax, business advice and other ancillary services.

James Simmonds, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said:

“We developed a fantastic long-term partnership with the team at Combined Knowledge that enabled the business to be optimally positioned as an attractive investment for acquisition.

“From the outset of the client looking to sell, we have ensured the process has been thoroughly planned and diligently executed, which helped to make the acquisition seamless over a three-week period.”

US-based data management solutions vendor AvePoint launched EduTech in February 2021, and this acquisition continues a string of investments to grow its partner network of educational training providers for modern workplaces.

Steve Smith, director and founder of Combined Knowledge, said:

“To date, we have upskilled more than one million people through the provision of engaging learning and support tools developed and delivered through training by Microsoft experts.

“We had reached a point of sale with the business to ensure that it could secure additional investment that would enable it to continue scaling up. We’re tremendously excited to join the AvePoint family to bolster its EduTech division, which we felt strongly aligned with our mission and purpose to deliver outstanding workplace software training provisions.

“James and the rest of the UHY team have been incredibly supportive of the ambitions for the business and were pivotal to ensure the best outcomes from the acquisition.”

James added:

“We support businesses of varying scale and scope across the East Midlands with meticulous strategic planning to fulfil their desired objectives and it’s incredibly rewarding to help firms reach pivotal milestones in their life cycles.”

Completion of the legal side of the transaction was led by Rik Pancholi, managing director at Pattersons Commercial Law, and his team. He was supported by Elliot Vilders, member at Dickinson Wright in Michigan, who assisted with the US side of this cross-border transaction.

Rik Pancholi, managing director at Pattersons Commercial Law said:

“It was great working with James at UHY Hacker Young and Steve Smith to help Steve realise his ambition of exiting from the business he has nurtured and developed over the years. It’s going to be quite an exciting journey watching the next phase of growth for Steve and Combined Knowledge.

“As a Leicester-based law firm which is in the process of setting up a second office in Nottingham, at Pattersons Commercial Law we are well-placed to advise owner-managed businesses across the East Midlands.”

For more information about UHY Hacker Young, please visit http://uhy-uk.com or call 0115 959 0900.

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