Preston-based Valuechain.com has acquired software development company Tricorn Systems in a deal backed by Rosebud Finance, a fund established by Lancashire County Council.
The company said the undisclosed purchase is part of its buy-and-build strategy, and follows "several successful product pilots" with Bentley Motors, Bombardier Aerospace and hundreds of manufacturing businesses.
Tricorn Systems, based in Surrey, has been providing "enterprise solutions" to manufacturing SMEs for more than 20 years.
Valuechain.com currently has three divisions: Business and Supply Chain Intelligence, for larger manufacturing organisations and industry associations; Valuechain App Store, providing productivity improvement solutions for manufacturing companies at all tiers of the supply chain; and Enterprise Systems for manufacturing SMEs, to streamline and control business processes.
Chief executive Tom Dawes said: "Tricorn deeply understand manufacturing SMEs and have developed a very loyal client base through continuous technology innovation and excellent customer service. By joining forces we can immediately offer Tricorn clients additional productivity improvement solutions and a collaborative platform to connect with their supply chain partners.
"The Tricorn team is well established and we plan to build on this core infrastructure to scale up our operations in the UK and overseas through strategic global partnerships. This is the first of several acquisitions we have planned to consolidate niche technology companies that service the manufacturing SME sector. We are really excited about the journey we have started."
The acquisition was supported by Rosebud Finance, a fund established by Lancashire County Council and managed by Enterprise Ventures.
A team from Brabners, led by corporate partner Tony Harper, provided legal services to Valuechain on the deal. A team from CLB Coopers, led by Rob Richardson, provided corporate finance support. Accountancy services were provided by Myersons.