A subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has bought the accountancy software company FreeAgent for £53m 
RBS BidCo announced it is acquiring the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of FreeAgent.
Shareholders at the cloud-based accountancy company will receive £1.20 for each share, valuing the entire issued and to be issued share capital of FreeAgent at £53m.
Ed Molyneux, founder and CEO at FreeAgent, explained that once the transaction closes, the company will be an “operationally independent member of a much bigger organisation”.
“This offer provides us with a unique opportunity to progress towards our vision that we set out in 2007 when the company was founded, and to invest heavily in FreeAgent, making it even better for our customers and partners.
“As part of a larger organisation we want to accelerate our growth ambitions in the micro-business and accountancy practice space, as well as significantly improve our core product,” Molyneux added.
RBS explained that it already had a commercial partnership with FreeAgent as it has been offering the company’s accounting software to its business banking customers. Following a pilot at the end of 2017, more than 10,000 RBS customers have already signed up to use the FreeAgent software.
The bank added that it intends to run FreeAgent as an operationally independent member of the RBS Group, retaining the company’s existing management team and Edinburgh location.
Ross McEwan, CEO of the bank said, “RBS is pleased to have reached an agreement on a recommended acquisition of FreeAgent. Since the beginning of our partnership, we have been impressed by FreeAgent and its technology and are excited by the enhanced offering we will be able to provide to our customers.
He added that FreeAgent’s technology-enabled solution will make it easier for business banking customers to build their businesses in a safe and secure way.
