Fourth acquisition in the pipeline

Dec 24 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

A PUBLICLY-listed North East company turned to its trusted legal advisers when it secured its fourth acquisition in two years

Stockton-based beer monitoring company Brulines company has bought Vianet, a specialist in gathering and analysing data from vending machines earlier this month.

Brulines has built a successful and growing business processing information on the supply of first beer in pubs and then petrol in garages so operators can more efficiently place orders and check for wastage.

Earlier this month it bought Dunfermline business Vianet out of administration for an undisclosed fee. The Scottish business had a turnover of more than £1m last year and assets of £980,000 but it also posted a loss of more than £1.4m.

Brulines chief executive James Dickson said: “The acquisition of Vianet is a natural extension of Brulines’ core capabilities into a growing adjacent remote data capture and management market where there is an opportunity to establish market leading products and services.

“Vianet will immediately provide the group with a pan-European customer opportunity which we will further consolidate as we also work towards expanding Brulines existing activities into Europe as well.”

This deal represents the fourth acquisition for Brulines since it floated on AIM in October 2006. The company took a controlling stake in Coin Metrics in 2007, acquired rival, Nucleus Data, in January 2008 and in October 2008 acquired Edensure. Gordons advised on all four deals.

The acquisition of Vianet was negotiated on behalf of Brulines by Peter Barton, a partner in Gordons corporate department, who was assisted by senior corporate solicitor Jonathan Asquez.

Gordons was established in Bradford in 1844 and opened its Leeds office in 2000.