Tracsis Completes £48m Mistral Data Acquisition

The Leeds-listed transport technology group has completed its £48m Mistral Data acquisition and sold its Events arm, as full-year trading came in on target

Tracsis, the Leeds-headquartered transport technology company, has completed its £48m acquisition of rail software business Mistral Data and confirmed full-year trading in line with expectations. The listed group, based at Nexus in Leeds, said revenue for the year to 31 July rose to around £85.5m, from £81.9m, with adjusted earnings of about £13.5m. The Mistral Data deal, first announced in July, has now cleared competition approval and gone through. Alongside it, the company has sold its events business, sharpening its focus on higher-margin software and data.

Why This Matters For Leeds

Tracsis is one of the larger listed companies run from Leeds, and a busy year of buying, selling and restructuring shows a business actively reshaping itself for growth. A Leeds base keeps skilled technology jobs and decision-making in the city, and a confident, acquisitive firm raises the city’s profile as a home for serious technology companies. With the railways entering a period of big change, Tracsis is positioning to supply the tools that change will need.

What Tracsis Has Done

The headline move is the completion of the Mistral Data purchase, a London-based rail software firm bought for an enterprise value of £48m. Mistral Data makes cloud-based software that helps train operators handle passenger information, revenue and operations, and its addition means the enlarged group now serves 22 of the country’s 24 train operating companies. The deal is one of several changes: the group also recently bought a business called Vesputi, sold its events division at the end of July, and completed a reorganisation into a single operating model. Together, the moves turn the company more firmly towards software and data and away from lower-margin services.

“Tracsis is better positioned than ever, with a portfolio aligned to attractive long-term growth markets, a higher proportion of recurring revenue and an increasing emphasis on scalable software products.”

— David Frost, Chief Executive Officer, Tracsis

A Leeds Firm Betting on Rail Software

The strategy is a clear one: buy recurring-revenue software, shed lower-margin work, and simplify the business. The timing is deliberate, too. The railways are entering a period of upheaval as Great British Railways takes shape and operators are under pressure to improve reliability, protect revenue and replace ageing systems; exactly the kind of demand Tracsis’s products are built to meet. The group, which has made nineteen acquisitions since 2008, and traces its roots to a University of Leeds spin-out, will report its full results on 19 November. For a Leeds business, steering itself towards a fast-growing market from its home city is a strong position to be in.