Kelso Group Holdings PLC on Tuesday announced its third investment, having purchased 1.0 million shares in cybersecurity company NCC Group PLC.
London-headquartered Kelso, which invests in small and mid-cap UK companies, said the purchase comprised 0.3% of NCC’s issued share capital at an average price of 108 pence each.
‘NCC is a special company on the UK stock market with two distinct businesses,’ said Kelso Chief Executive Officer John Goold. ‘There is an experienced management team assembled and we support them to deliver shareholder value.’
Kelso noted that those two divisions, Software Reliance (Escrow) and Assurance (Cyber Security) are operationally distinct and have no synergies. It said the former ‘is a global leader’ in software escrow service provision.
Manchester-based NCC in late September said it swung to a £4.3 million pretax loss in the year ended May 31, from a £31.0 million profit.
However, as Kelso highlighted, NCC’s revenue increased 6.4% to £335.1 million from £314.8 million. Software Reliance delivered £64.3 million of this, while Assurance delivered £270.8 million.
NCC represents Kelso’s third investment. Kelso previously bought a 3.2% stake in Birmingham-based retailer TheWorks.co.uk PLC for approximately £626,000, consisting of 2.0 million shares at on average 31.3p each. It also holds about 8.0 million shares in its maiden investment, Manchester-based e-commerce firm THG PLC.
Shares in Kelso were up 2.6% at 2.00p on Tuesday afternoon in London. Shares in NCC were up 2.7% to 110.30p each.
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