AIM quoted software supplier for the recruitment industry Dillistone announced that it will acquire Woodcote Software and has raised £500,000 through a placing of 694,445 new ordinary shares at 72p each.

Woodcote is a non-trading holding company and owns Voyager Software, which sells software products to recruitment agencies.

In a separate statement Dillistone said revenue increased 16% to £2.277m for the six months ended 30 June 2011. Pre-tax profit for the period was up 8% to £0.551m

Commenting on the results, chairman Mike Love said, "Against an unsettled economic climate, these results represent continued strong progress. We flagged up prior to the launch of our new technology platform that we would be taking a cautious approach to delivery and roll out and stated that we did not expect to see the full impact of our new product prior to 2012. Whilst this remains our approach, we consider these numbers to be very encouraging."

Commenting on the acquisition Love added, "We are also delighted to announce the acquisition of Woodcote Software Limited and its subsidiaries, Voyager Software Ltd and Voyager Software Australia. We consider this acquisition to be transformational, in that it takes the group from the executive search niche into a far larger market."

Dillistone said it believes the acquisition will benefit the group immediately, and provide growth opportunities and synergies over the coming years.

The group is debt free and has cash of £2.138m at 30 June 2011.

It dividend policy has been maintained, with an interim payment of 1.1667p per share due in November.



CJ

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