Acal's (ACL) acquisition spend over the last eight years hit £150m today - and is now higher than the company's entire market value.
A £14m deal announced this morning to buy UK electronics manufacturer Variolm was met with indifference by the market: shares in Acal trade 1.6% lower at 226p.
And there are signs investor patience could be wearing thin with Acal's buy-and-build campaign.
WASTING MONEY
Shares previously tallied up Acal's M&A spend to the start of 2015 when it equaled £120m. Deals announced subsequently and today's acquisition take that to over £150m.
Acal's market value, at £145m before the issue of new shares to buy Variolm, is therefore lower than the amount of shareholder capital invested its acquisition spree.
While we haven't adjusted for debt used during the acquisition campaign, it is an embarrassing comparison.
The market may is attaching little or no economic value to a strategy which kicked off in 2008 with the purchase of 75% of Service Source, a supplier of printer and laptop spare parts.
TIME TO DELIVER
Improved operating performance of the business it already owns now looks particularly important if Acal is to regain the confidence of the market.
On that front Acal appears to be delivering.
Underlying sales improved in the company's third quarter, the three months to 31 December, running flat versus minus 7% in the first half of its financial year, according to a trading update.
An improving order book and expectations of a return to growth in the fourth quarter may stave off the brickbats for now. Acal still has a lot to do before it can prove its eight years of wheeling and dealing can deliver the value it promised.
