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Maxima Holdings plc, an IT systems and managed services company, has bought Centric Networks, which provides managed services for infrastructure software to a range of mid-market companies.

The deal could be worth up to £6.4 million and will be satisfied by £4.4 million in cash and through the issue of up to 646,831 new ordinary shares. The cash element of the deal was funded by debt provided by Barclays.

The acquisition agreement includes an earn-out dependent upon the performance of Centric in the 12 months to June 2009.

This acquisition is part of Maxima’s consolidation strategy within the fragmented IT services sector.

Centric will now trade as part of Maxima’s infrastructure managed service business and continues to be led by its management team with the exception of Gerry Redman, part-time finance manager and company secretary, who will retire after supporting the handover period.

Maxima’s chief executive, Kelvin Harrison, said: “This transaction builds upon our existing infrastructure software skills which have been developed since the acquisition of Intertech in November. It greatly reinforces Maxima’s total of IT solutions and managed services offering to the mid-market.”

Centric’s managing director, Fraser Fisher, added: “Joining Maxima provides us with the ideal opportunity to increase the range of skills that we can offer to our clients and to continue our strong growth record.”

Centric was advised by Westchester Technology Associates LLP, while Taylor Walton acted for Barclays. The firm’s team was led by banking lawyer Shasta Qayyum.

Qayyum said her team was delighted to have assisted Barclays on the funding of this deal. “This is the fourth substantial acquisition funded by Barclays in recent months where Taylor Walton has acted for the bank.”

Centric, which has 41 employees at its base near Stansted, specialises in operating systems, networking, security and remote access. The company frequently manages the hosting and maintenance of client’s systems in third party datacentres.

In the year to July last year, Centric had a £2 million turnover with a profit before tax of £550,000.

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