Sylogist’s "Serenic Software" division enters the United States educational market; Acquires K12 Enterprise and Sunpac assets


CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 23, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sylogist Ltd. (TSXV:SYZ) (“Sylogist” or the “Company”), a provider of enterprise information management solutions, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Serenic Software Inc., has acquired the assets of K12 Enterprise (K12E) and Sunpac Systems (Sunpac), both providers of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) solutions to the kindergarten to grade 12 local education authorities marketplace in the United States.

Combined, K12E and Sunpac address the needs of in excess of 70 U.S. school boards, with 5 new implementations underway.  K12E is a state of the art, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, offered on a subscription basis and based on our Navigator ERP solution. Navigator ERP extends the functional capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics, to address the public sector and not-for-profit market places worldwide. K12E is a certified solution, with customers in 7 U.S. states and Canada.  It is installed in North Carolina local educational authorities, along with other school boards in the states of New York, Texas, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Sunpac, a legacy solution provider, is the largest supplier of large, local education authority solutions in North Carolina.

Most K-12 school board and local educational authorities’ accounting systems are legacy ones.  K12E offers a complete, scalable SaaS financial/HR/Analytics solution built on our proven Navigator ERP with Microsoft Dynamics at its core. It is our intent to target legacy system users in those 7 U.S. states where K12E is currently installed, to encourage migration to our modern platform. The addressable market opportunity in those 7 U.S. states is approximately equal to 1/3 of the U.S. market as a whole, or 5 times that of the English speaking market in Canada today.  

Serenic Software acquired the K12E and Sunpac assets from Jitasa, a private company, for approximately $4.4 million (CAD), payable in cash (inclusive of holdback) of $1.8 million (CAD) and by the assumption of certain liabilities, principally deferred revenue.  Pro-forma, during the last 12 months, K12E and Sunpac generated approximately $3.7 million (CAD) of revenue and $2.0 million (CAD) of Adjusted EBITDA.

In addition to existing business, the acquisition of the K12E intellectual property (IP) nearly doubles the Company’s Navigator IP portfolio.  This IP will enhance our Navigator ERP suite and VisionPay payroll products, making the acquired IP a valuable upgrade to the Company’s over 1,000 current customers.  Upgrades extend the value of customer relationships in contract duration and recurring revenue.  The IP enhancement immediately increases the gap between our solutions and the competitors’, thereby improving our product positioning in attracting new customers.  Serenic expects to invest approximately $500K (CAD) in fiscal 2018 to integrate the acquired IP into the Navigator ERP platform and VisionPay application. Serenic Software intends to engage certain existing and new channel service providers within the Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem to extend the reach and geographic coverage of implementation services associated with our enhanced educational and payroll solutions. Building a strong implementation partner channel assists in generating timely deployment for our products that can generate organic recurring revenue growth.

About Sylogist

Sylogist is a technology innovation company that, through strategic acquisitions, investments and operations management, provides intellectual property solutions to a wide range of Public Sector customers. We are an industry-leading publisher of mission-critical software products that satisfy the unique and sophisticated functionality requirements of Public Sector entities, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, government agencies as well as public compliance driven and funded businesses. Our Company delivers highly scalable, multi-language, multi-currency software solutions, which serve the needs of an international clientele.

(1) Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Earnings are non-GAAP financial measures: Adjusted EBITDA is defined as: profit for the period before stock based compensation, foreign exchange gains or losses, interest expense, bargain purchase price on acquisition, income taxes, acquisition-related costs, depreciation and amortization. Adjusted Earnings is defined as profit for the period adjusted for certain non-cash expenses (income), such as amortization of intangible assets, stock based compensation, deferred income taxes as well as foreign exchange gains or losses and certain other expenses (income).

Full financial statements together with Management’s Discussion and Analysis are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The Company's stock is traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol SYZ. Information about Sylogist can be found at http://www.sylogist.com.

This press release is not for distribution to United States Newswire Services or for dissemination in the United States.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws and regulations.  These statements typically use words such as expect, believe, estimate, project, anticipate, plan, may, should, could and would, or the negative of these terms, variations thereof or similar terminology.  By their very nature, forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific in nature.  It is therefore possible that the beliefs and plans and other forward-looking expectations expressed herein will not be achieved or will prove inaccurate.  Although Sylogist believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it provides no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward-looking information in this news release includes statements with respect to Sylogist's key organizational changes and investments, its key relationships and its products potentially reaching broader markets. Material assumptions and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include Sylogist’s ability to attract and retain customers and to realize on its investments. Although Sylogist believes that the material assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur. Sylogist disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

Certain information set out herein may be considered as “financial outlook” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The purpose of this financial outlook is to provide readers with disclosure regarding Sylogist’s reasonable expectations as to the anticipated results of its proposed business activities for the periods indicated. Readers are cautioned that the financial outlook may not be appropriate for other purposes.

For further information contact:

Jim Wilson, President and CEO
or
Xavier Shorter, Vice President, Finance and CFO
or
Andre Drouillard, Vice President, Business Development and Investor Relations

Sylogist Ltd.
(403) 266-4808

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