Technology investor Accel-KKR has agreed a recommended cash acquisition of Eleco plc, valuing the UK construction-software company at approximately £207.6m on a fully diluted basis.
The offer, being made through newly formed Avocet Bidco, values each Eleco share at 235p in cash. That represents a 74.7% premium to the company’s 134.5p closing price on 9 September, the final business day before the offer was announced.
The price also represents an 86% premium to Eleco’s three-month volume-weighted average share price and an 89.9% premium to the six-month average. The implied enterprise value is £192.4m, equivalent to around 20.2 times EBITDA for the year ended 31 December 2025.
Eleco’s directors intend unanimously to recommend the transaction, which is expected to be implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. The acquisition remains subject to shareholder approval, court sanction, and other conditions, with completion expected during or before the first quarter of 2027.
The offer follows an unsolicited approach from Accel-KKR earlier this year and a subsequent period of due diligence. Bidco has already received irrevocable undertakings and letters of intent covering approximately 45.2% of Eleco’s existing issued ordinary share capital.
Mark Castle, non-executive chair of Eleco, said: “The Eleco Board has unanimously concluded that they intend to recommend this offer, which provides a compelling return for our shareholders and is in the best interests of shareholders and wider stakeholders.”
Eleco develops software used across the building lifecycle, including project planning, scheduling, cost management, building information modelling, maintenance, facilities management, and project portfolio management.
The business has been shifting from perpetual software licensing towards subscription and software-as-a-service revenues, increasing the proportion of recurring income in the process. In 2025, Eleco reported revenue of £38.8m, up 20%, while adjusted EBITDA increased 32% to £10.2m.
Annualised recurring revenue reached £34.3m at the end of 2025, up 29%, while recurring revenue accounted for 81% of total revenue. Eleco ended the year with £16.3m of cash and no debt.
Trading during the first half of 2026 continued that direction. Annualised recurring revenue at 30 June was approximately £35.5m, total revenue rose 8% to around £19.9m, organic revenue growth reached 15%, and recurring revenue represented 85% of the total.
The transaction reflects continued private-capital demand for vertical software businesses with recurring revenues, established customer bases, and scope to increase investment outside the quarterly reporting cycle of public markets.
Accel-KKR has more than $23bn in cumulative capital commitments and focuses on mid-market software and technology-enabled services. Its plans for Eleco include further product development, SaaS adoption, artificial intelligence, international expansion, and acquisitions.
Those priorities also illustrate the investment demands facing smaller listed software companies. Eleco’s board said spending requirements were rising across product innovation, cloud platforms, artificial intelligence, and go-to-market capabilities, while remaining independent would leave shareholders exposed to execution risks over a number of years.
The offer therefore places a sizeable premium on immediate cash certainty against the prospective value of continued standalone growth. Smaller UK-listed technology companies can face limited share liquidity even where recurring revenues and profitability are improving, increasing the attraction of private transactions at substantial premiums.
Accel-KKR has said it does not intend to make a material reduction in Eleco’s headcount or materially alter employment conditions following completion. It expects instead to review operations, the product roadmap, and growth strategy during the six months after the transaction becomes effective.
The deal will require approval from a majority in number of scheme shareholders voting at the court meeting who together represent at least 75% in value of the shares voted. A separate special resolution will also require at least 75% of votes cast at Eleco’s general meeting.
If those conditions and the remaining transaction requirements are satisfied, Eleco will move into private ownership with additional financial backing for product investment and acquisitions, removing another specialist UK software company from the public market.
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