• Seeks hardware and software providers
• Target revenue sweet spot is EUR 10m-EUR 50m
• Open to approaches from due diligence advisors

Belgium-based Signpost, which provides IT services to the education sector, is looking to acquire European peers as it aims to reach EUR 500m revenue by 2028, CEO Arne Vandendriessche told Mergermarket.

The company, which generates slightly more than EUR 200m in revenue at present, is seeking providers of hardware such as laptops, and related services, to students, in the UK and Spain, Vandendriessche said. It is also interested in software providers to schools and universities, based anywhere in Europe, he said.

The sweet spot for turnover at targets is between EUR 10m and EUR 50m, he said.

Signpost aims to reach EUR 500m revenue via both M&A and organic growth by around 2028, he said. It is seeing 30-40% organic annual growth in its original base of Belgium and the Netherlands, he said, and is looking to acquire elsewhere to boost client portfolio among Europe’s schools and universities.

The business has a complete technical proposition in the form of academic software and hardware, so it is not aiming to boost its tech capabilities with the help of M&A, he said.

Signpost scouts deals in-house and with the help of its board of directors, and is open to approaches from local due diligence advisors, Vandendriessche said. The company intends to make around two M&A deals per year going forward, but is not currently in talks with targets, he said

The company will finance deals with cash and bank debt, he said, declining to indicate its acquisition budget.

The business has made five acquisition deals to date, he said. It took over Spanish sector peer Icono earlier this year, in a deal that exemplifies its expansion drive in Spain’s educational hardware sector in Spain, he added. In 2022, it acquired Campus PDI, also in Spain. 

Signpost supplies academic hardware and software, as well as educational content from its own publisher Lernova, connectivity via Academic Connect powered by Proximus, and training programmes, to students, schools, colleges, and universities in 12 European countries, according to the company’s website.

The founders, Vandendriessch, as well as CIO Pieter Barremaecker and Chairman and Managing Partner Paul Steenbergen, hold the company’s controlling stake. The minority ownership is distributed among Steven Buyse, the Brussels CEO of CVC; the founder of the Stefan Tournoy, founder of online clothing store Vente-Exclusive; Xavier Dewulf, CEO of G&V; real-estate investor Frederic Van den Weghe; and Janwillem Naesens, CEO of investment fund Droia, as reported.

Headquartered in Lockeren, Signpost has a headcount of 430.