BIW TECHNOLOGIES’ DIRECTORS ANNOUNCE SUCCESSFUL RECAPITALISATION

Recapitalisation backed by largest shareholder gives the company strong platform for continued success

03 September 2009

BIW Technologies, one of the world’s leading providers of online construction and engineering project control software, has announced a recapitalisation backed by the company’s largest shareholder to provide a strong, debt-free platform for continued success.

BIW, led by CEO Colin Smith, finance director Bill Flind and sales director Steve Cooper was refinanced by NovaVest Fund 1 LP, which is advised by Tempo Capital Partners LLP. In addition to the settlement of all outstanding debt (amounting to £3.5m in aggregate) the deal secures around £300,000 of new working capital to further develop the business.

BIW is now wholly financed by equity and, as a result, there is no ongoing burden of cash interest or dividend payments to its financiers. As a result, the directors of the Surrey-based company believe that with profitable trading, cash reserves and no debt, it is significantly more financially secure than its peers and is best placed to capitalise on any upturn in the economy.

Despite the difficult economic environment BIW is trading successfully. Turnover in the financial year to 30 September 2008 was close to £7.5 million, generating an operating profit in excess of £1 million. The company continues to trade profitably in 2009.

The delivery of collaboration services on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis is a fast-growing international market and BIW Technologies is the European leader in SaaS collaboration systems for construction and engineering projects, measured by numbers of users, usage and volume of data.

BIW’s customers include a host of top public sector and blue-chip private sector clients, including Sainsbury's, Barclays, HBOS, Interior Services Group, the Coal Authority, Canary Wharf, Cambridgeshire County Council, the UK Ministry of Defence, Mace, Bovis Lend Lease, the Wellcome Trust, Gleeds and developers Land Securities and Argent.

Colin Smith, CEO of BIW Technologies, comments:

"This is very good news for all the company's customers and creditors. BIW is now financially and operationally far stronger, there is no debt and we have strong cash reserves. This is an extremely healthy position in today's difficult economic climate. Despite the downturn BIW continues to trade very successfully with strong revenue and profits, plus we have a number of promising strategic developments which will begin to bear fruit in 2010."

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For further information please contact:

• Paul Wilkinson (BIW communications consultant) Tel: +44  (0)20 8858 1104, mobile +44 (0)77 8844 5920, email paul.wilkinson@biwtech.com
• Colin Smith (BIW CEO) Tel: +44 (0)1483 712620

Notes to Editors

• BIW (www.biwtech.com) is the European leader in web-based collaboration systems for the construction and property industry, measured by numbers of users, usage and volume of data.
• The company supports projects in more than 20 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australasia and North America. BIW opened an office in the United Arab Emirates in 2006 and an offshore development centre in India in October 2007
• The recapitalisation was financed by NovaVest Fund 1 LP, which is advised by Tempo Capital Partners LLP (www.tempo-cap.com), which was the largest shareholder and creditor of BIW PLC.