Sword: sought-after after two acquisitions in the UK

(CercleFinance.com) - Sword shares rose sharply on the Paris Bourse on Monday, following the announcement of two acquisitions in the UK in the fields of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity.


At around 12.10 pm, the stock gained over 7%, with investors hailing the "strategic" acquisition of these companies, both based in Scotland.

IACS, a micro-company based in Aberdeen, specializes in digital security for industrial process control networks, with know-how applicable to all the sectors covered by Sword.

Sales are in the region of 2.9 million euros a year, with an operating margin (Ebitda) of 20%. The company's growth rate, once integrated into Sword, is expected to be around 15% per annum.

AAA, an Aberdeen-based company specializing in artificial intelligence, was previously an employee recruitment and placement firm, which was partially sold by Sword a year ago.

With AAA having restructured its offer around AI, the French technology group explains that it has decided to buy this company, whose sales reach eight million euros per year and an Ebitda margin of 2%.

With the integration of Sword's artificial intelligence products, the Ebitda margin target for 2025 has been raised to 9%, then to 12% by 2026.

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