Announces agreement to acquire UK-based specialist retail, hospitality and convenience IT provider

Announces agreement to acquire UK-based specialist retail, hospitality and convenience IT provider

NASDAQ-listed hospitality and retail IT company Micros Systems has announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the outstanding stock of Torex Retail Holdings from its private equity owners.

The US firm said it was paying approximately £114.5 million in cash and the assumption of debt valued at £48m. The announcement said the deal is expected to close in a timely fashion, subject to customary government approvals.

Tom Giannopoulos, Micros's chairman and chief executive, stated that the acquisition of Dunstable-based Torex was an important step forward in launching the Micros retail technology business in the UK and Europe.

“Torex has a broad customer base and product and service portfolio,” he added.

Investing in Retail-J portfolio

Torex provides IT systems for the retail, fuel and convenience stores and pub markets in the UK and Europe. Customers include Tragus, Costa Coffee, Mothercare, Republic, Reiss, The Co-operative fuel forecourt business and Lloydspharmacy among others. Many run Torex’s Retail-J electronic point-of-sale (PoS) software and its verison of Microsoft's Dynamics NAV system.

The UK firm only recently itself acquired the Retail Division (RBS) of Sanderson Group and Retail-J rival for £11.75m. According to Torex at the time, the deal was designed to create a clear market leader in store and multichannel IT systems.

Micros provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries worldwide. It claims over 330,000 MICROS systems are currently installed in table and quick service restaurants, hotels, motels, casinos, leisure and entertainment, and retail operations in more than 180 countries, and on all seven continents.