Local digital agency sells for $12m

The owners of South Perth company Desktop Mapping Systems, led by managing director David Baxter, have agreed to sell the business to ASX-listed Technology One for $12 million in cash.

DMS, which trades as Digital Mapping Solutions, has grown over 21 years to become a major supplier of geographic information systems to local government authorities across Australia.

The company is headquartered in South Perth, where its developers are based, and has offices in Melbourne and New Zealand.

Its web site states that DMS currently delivers enterprise class spatial solutions to over 140 organisations across Australia and New Zealand.

Brisbane-based Technology One said it would pay about $12 million in cash, with a significant proportion of the purchase price payable on the achievement of an earn-out.

Technology One is an S&P/ASX 200 company and describes itself as Australia’s largest enterprise software business.

It was formed in 1987 by executive chairman Adrian Di Marco and has approximately 1,000 employees, including 300 developers in its R&D centre.

The company claims to have been continuously profitable since 1992; it lifted revenue to $195 million and net profit to $31 million in the 2014 financial year.

In 2011, Technology One and DMS established a strategic partnership to jointly develop and sell integrated asset management and geographic information system solutions.