The internet consultancy firm Satama Interactive Plc and the business management training company Trainers’ House are to merge by the end of the year.
In the merger agreement Trainers’ House is valued at EUR 72.8 million.
On Tuesday afternoon the Satama management convened to decide on the deal. The merger is yet to be verified by the shareholders' meeting.
According to the agreement, Satama is to purchase 45 per cent of the Trainers’ House stock for EUR 33 million in cash, before buying up the remaining 55 percent of the company with 40 million euros worth of Satama shares later this year. Bank loans will be used to finance the transaction.
The enlarged entity will be caller Trainers’ House Oyj and it will be headed by the Trainers’ House principal owner Jari Sarasvuo.
In January Sarasvuo said in a Helsingin Sanomat interview that his plan was to merge the extremely profitable Trainers’ House with Satama and to list the outcome on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
At that time Sarasvuo stated that for Trainers’ House Satama was an industrial investment, which would enable the company to conquer the world.
The means for Trainers’ House’s going international include the company’s sales and marketing management training tool BLARP (Business Live-Action Role Play), which resembles a computer game. BLARP has been developed in cooperation between the two companies, combining the Trainers’ House sales management and marketing expertise with Satama’s competence in software design and technology.
Last year, Satama - which had suffered from a longish downward trend - saw its net sales grow by 30 percent reaching EUR 35.8 million. The operating profit, in turn, fell from EUR 1.1 million to 0.2 million. The result includes EUR 1.4 million in various one-off fees related to the organisational reshuffle.
