Bitcoin-backed recruiter Connecting Excellence completes first acquisition

Connecting Excellence Group Plc (AQSE:XCE, OTCQB:XCELF), the recruitment company that holds Bitcoin as a long-term reserve, has completed its first acquisition by buying James Gray Recruitment.

The deal also takes in James Gray Engineering and adds £1.79 million of revenue, up 21.5%, in the 12 months to 30 June.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the two businesses combined were £431,000, on gross profit of £1.27 million.

James Gray is a specialist construction and engineering recruiter placing technical, management and leadership candidates in the UK, US and internationally.

The upfront cash is £575,000, but about £425,000 was settled by offsetting sums owed. That leaves a net cash outflow of about £150,000 on completion, before transaction costs.

The rest of the price is deferred and depends on EBITDA delivered in 2027, 2028 and 2029, with nothing payable below a minimum threshold.

Connecting Excellence expects to keep 75% to 85% of cumulative EBITDA over the earn-out period.

Bitcoin holding rises

The businesses also held 8.216 Bitcoin, worth £531,223, which the group paid for from a £600,000 share subscription.

Its total holding rises to 81.157 Bitcoin, valued at £5.25 million.

The company has also arranged a revolving credit facility with BitGo, its Bitcoin custodian, allowing drawings of up to $1.5 million.

Chief executive Scott Ellam says this is the first of a series of potential deals in an identified pipeline.

He points to up to 1,000 owner-managed recruiters in the UK and around 10,000 worldwide.