(Alliance News) - Growens Spa announced Monday that its U.S. subsidiary BEE Content Design Inc has entered into an asset purchase agreement to take over the email design business of U.S.-based Really Good Emails Inc.

RGE owns, among other things, a website and related software that offers an extensive collection of email templates. The synergy between RGE's website's email catalog, which allows users to take inspiration for creating their own campaigns, and the Beefree software, which in turn allows users to design email campaigns, will thus enable the U.S. subsidiary to expand its audience and, by effect, the number of its customers.

The deal involves the purchase and sale of RGE's assets, including, in particular, the company's website, related software, customer contracts and brands used in the conduct of the business, for a purchase price of up to USD600,000, plus an earn-out component worth up to a maximum of USD6 million if certain profitability targets are met over the three-year period 2024-2026.

Following the transaction, Mike Nelson and Matt Helbig, co-founders of RGE, will assume operational roles in Beefree.

Following the integration with RGE, the strategic plan for organic growth of the Beefree business unit includes as targets revenues with CAGR 2023-2026 higher than 35 percent, a gross margin at full-year 2026 higher than 75 percent, and a headcount with CAGR 2023-2026 higher than 5 percent, particularly in the Customer Experience, Marketing, Sales, and R&D departments, excluding the staff currently in Holding, amounting to about 50 people distributed in the Finance and Control, Legal, HR, IT, and Data departments.

Again, the plan envisages a breakeven Ebitda in 2025, with a margin at steady state of more than 15 percent, and a Capex 2024-2026 of about USD15 million, as well as a negative cash flow in 2024-2025 of USD8-10 million, with breakeven in 2026, and an ARR as of December 2026 of between USD30 million and USD35 million.

"In M&A, the approach remains opportunistic, focused on the constant scouting of companies of all sizes and geographies, capable of accelerating the growth process in Beefree's characteristic business areas, expressing synergies in complementary technologies, people or go-tomarket," the company explained.

For FY2024, Beefree's budget guidelines include the launch of a new commercial offering package for Beefree and Beefree SDK. In R&D, the development of new features leveraging generative AI, the introduction of incremental improvements, the launch of a multi-region infrastructure, new features for the Enterprise market, and new connectors to integrate new platforms to Beefree ? Go-to-market initiatives, leveraging the resources acquired with RGE: partnerships, community, indirect channel development, multi-lingual approach, development of new Growth Marketing team. As a result of these activities, the expected ARR at the end of 2024 is between USD15 million and USD18 million.

Growens' stock closed Monday at a par at EUR6.58 per share.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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