We signed a letter of intent on the acquisition of a part of shares in the Swedish company PayGround AB, which developed and implemented on the domestic market a system that allows VAT to be settled on parcels sent from China to Europe. By the end of 2018, we will also take over up to 30 percent shares in Edge One Solutions – a Polish software company operating in the IT outsourcing industry.
The solution developed by PayGround is currently being used by the PostNord postal operator, which is responsible in Sweden for the VAT settlement process from the growing number of parcels from China.
This is the first such effective solution in the European Union. We are very hoping that this solution will also be adopted in other Member States. We anticipate not only the acquisition of shares in the Scandinavian company by Euvic, but also the joint construction of a technical team that will respond, among others, to for integrating the solution with various IT systems. We have extensive experience in this field, among others thanks to the cooperation of the group with Polish Post Office – Bonair SA implemented an ERP system at the Post Office, while Euvic is responsible for print outsourcing
says Ola Hesselroth, transaction architect responsible for the Swedish market in Euvic
The next investment, which we will carry out before the end of 2018, concerns Edge One Solutions. The company operates in the field of IT outsourcing and is the founder of the startup incubator – EduLab.
We believe that thanks to this investment, the Euvic Technology Group in 2019 will not only grow by 400 programmers, but also start to build value by creating intellectual property
says Wojciech Kosiński, vice president and shareholder of our company
Our recent Euvic investments have focused on the area of IT infrastructure. In December 2016, we acquired IT Works SA from Enterprise Investors, and then, through IT Works, we acquired Omnitec. In addition, our activities focused on the construction of Euvic Services Sp. z o.o. and an attempt to take over the stock exchange company Qumak. The latter transaction was unsuccessful due to the fact that the National Tax Information stated that the transaction in the developed form is not tax-neutral and should be charged with double taxation – on the exchange of shares and future profits from the sale of shares, which would in practice encumber the shareholders of Euvic with almost 38 million PLN of income tax.
We will carry out all the announced investments from our own resources, and we are not planning to return to the stock exchange idea in the near future. Wojciech Wolny, Chairman of the Board, however, emphasizes that the time spent on the supervisory board of Qumak was a valuable lesson, provided practical experience with the capital market and invaluable contacts.
“The only thing regretting is the fact that some individual investors blame Euvic for the failure of merger with Qumak, while the company fulfilled all its obligations and was determined to carry out the transaction. The only reasons why the ill-fated, individual tax interpretation appeared relatively late were the legal provisions, which require that the query to the National Tax Information contains all necessary information, including the content and date of adoption of relevant resolutions, which was possible only after the documents were prepared by Qumak SA
says Wojciech Wolny
The Chairman also added that the interpretation of the tax office was a big surprise for the company, because we had previously asked two law firms for independent opinions examining the tax consequences of the planned transaction. All showed that the transaction would be tax-neutral. In the opinion of the legal offices mentioned above, the position presented by the treasury office is incorrect and can be challenged in court. However, we do not plan such a step, because the process could take several years.
