Edtech platform Janison Eduction (ASX:JAN) announced a new acquisition this morning, and markets approved.

The company, which provides software to run secure offsite tests and examinations, said it will buy Educational Assessments (EA) from UNSW Global — a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of NSW (UNSW).

Janison didn’t disclose exact sale terms, but said it’s agreed to acquire the business for a “nominal cash consideration”. Janison will also assume around $1.6m in employee liabilities.

EA’s flagship product is the ICAS assessment program, a recognised skills-based competition that runs through 15 countries across the Asia Pacific, including China and India.

Janison said EA generated around $10m in annual recurring revenues in 2019, with intellectual property in the form of 20,000 test questions that had been developed by academics over the last 20 years.

Janison said around 4,600 Australian schools had been customers of EA over the last three years, and integrating the business gave it the opportunity to increase its reach across all school years from kindy to year 12.

That integration follows a two-year business partnership, where Janison delivered “tens of thousands of assessments” for EA products, including ICAS, through its Janison Insights program.

The acquisition will allow Janison to gain access to the IP, as well as human capital — EA’s “team of psychometricians, statisticians, and exam authoring and reporting experts”.

“Meanwhile, the divestment will allow UNSW Global to focus on its core Education business, which has enjoyed strong growth in recent years,” Janison said.

Following a $7m capital raise and the announcement of additional partnership agreements, Janison said it was now well-placed to grow out the disruption caused by COVID-19.

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In response to the announcement, shares in Janison rose by as much as 12 per cent in morning trade to around 30c — still slightly below its COVID-19 high of 35.5c reached in mid-April.

 

In other ASX tech news today:

Software company Hansen Technologies (ASX:HSN), which provides IT services to the energy and water industries, announced revised forward guidance for the 2020 financial year. It follows a previous announcement on April 3 where the company withdrew its estimates previously announced in February, due to the uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

This morning, Hansen reiterated that it expected underlying earnings to come in at $75-$76m, which is within the previous February guidance range of $72-$77m. Shares in the company climbed by 6.3 per cent to $3.37.