Group NBT plc, Europe’s leading domain name management and website hosting company,  has completed its third acquisition in two years with the acquisition of Envisional Solutions for £4 million.

Group NBT plc, Europe’s leading domain name management and website hosting company,  has completed its third acquisition in two years with the acquisition of Envisional Solutions for £4 million.

The group will fulfil the transaction with three payments, initially laying down up to £2.4 million with two further payments totalling £1.6 million also due.

The initial payment will be settled 50% in cash and 50% by the issue of NBT shares. The cash element of the initial payment is due at the end of the year and will be adjusted based on revenue performance against targets for that year.

The two deferred payments will be made in cash if certain revenue targets are achieved in the next two years.

Hewittsons Solicitors’ corporate team in Cambridge, led by partner James Lawrence and assisted by senior solicitor Helen Drayton, acted for the vendors.

Lawrence has previously acted for NBT and was able to complete the transaction in less than a month.

Geoff Wicks, Group NBT’s chief executive, said: “This transaction is of strategic importance for the group. It is an excellent opportunity to be able to provide our customers with a broader range of products offering them the ability to protect their brands from various types of infringement in the online market.

“Envisional has technology to do this which is currently being used by some significant brand owners. Building on this we will be able to accelerate the growth of Envisional by packaging services for use by Group NBT’s customers.”

For the year ended December 31 2006, Envisional generated revenues of £1.43 million with a loss before tax of £1.36 million. The loss incurred was to some extent the result of significant investment in the development of the technology.

Un-audited accounts for the five months to May 31, 2007 showed revenue of £477,000 and a loss before tax of £340,000 together with a net asset deficit of £298,000.

Envisional is based in Cambridge and uses artificial intelligence technology to help companies protect themselves against brand infringement and Internet fraud.

Group NBT already provides entry level services to this market and will now be able to provide its customer base with brand management, monitoring and protection services.