London-listed Weir Group has been confirmed as the buyer of Australian mining software firm, Micromine, agreeing to pay a staggering A$1.31 billion cash less than two years after AspenTech terminated a $900 million deal.
Weir said Micromine was achieving strong recurring software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription income growth, underpinning 25% revenue CAGR “over the past few years”. Calendar 2025 revenue was projected at circa-£68 million (A$138 million), denoting a c10-times EV-to-revenue multiple “and EBITDA multiple of c20x at December 2025, excluding the impact of synergies”.
“Micromine is achieving sector-leading operating margins and is highly cash generative,” Weir said. Its “industry-leading recurring SaaS subscription income” was about 90% of revenues.
The deal, expected to close in the June quarter this year, will double Weir’s net debt-to-EBITDA of 0.7x at the end of 2024 to about 2x at the end of 2025. Weir says it can cut that to about 1.5x by the end of 2026. It had net debt of £535 million at the end of 2024.
Weir paid US$1285 million for US-based ESCO Corporation in 2018 and in the mining technology arena shelled out £150 million for Vancouver-based Motion Metrics at the end of 2021.
CEO Jon Stanton said Micromine would ultimately combine with Weir’s Motion Metrics and Next intelligent solutions and accelerate its vision for a digital platform using data from across the mining value chain to optimise resource planning, mine design and operations, and processing activities.
“The acquisition of Micromine is a significant step in our strategy of investing in technology to accelerate smart, efficient and sustainable mining,” Stanton said.
“The combined force of Micromine and Weir will create a sector-leading globally scaled platform to optimise performance across the mining process.
“In Micromine, we are adding an established, high-quality business and proven performer that is complementary to Weir’s aftermarket-focused business model and current digital solutions. This acquisition provides a compelling opportunity for strong value creation in the immediate and longer term.”
The transaction needs to be cleared by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
Micromine was named as Best Mining Technology Company in InvestMETS.com’s 2024 Global Mining Technology Awards.
