Tue, 4 Nov 2014
Impellam, one of the UK’s largest staffing agencies, has acquired specialist IT recruiter Lorien in a multi-million pound deal.

It announced this morning that it had bought Lorien for an initial consideration of £22.3m in cash and £7.5m in new ordinary shares.

The cash payment is to be satisfied by the company’s existing cash resources, and an equity placing with new and existing shareholders. Also, by a new five-year £15m loan with Barclays Bank.

Impellam will assume Lorien’s net debt of £14m.

Lorien, which has offices in London, Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh, has an expected turnover of £330m for the 12 months to January 2015.

Impellam chief executive Julia Robertson told Recruiter the acquisition was a significant step for the company and part of its strategy, launched in October last year, to expand its offerings.

It was a company ambition to gain a presence in IT staffing.

She said Lorien would continue to operate as its own brand. 

The company was "building a portfolio of specialty brands with their own personalities".

This was the company's second acquisition this year, following a deal with Career Teachers in March.

It was also announced that Derek O’Neill, a major shareholder and director of Lorien, was appointed to the Impellam Board as a non-executive director, with effect from 10 November 2014.

O’Neill has been a director of Lorien since 2007, having held previous positions as finance director of Business Direct and Deltron Electronics.

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