Private equity firm Nova Capital Management has exited test and data analysis specialist nCode International for £17.5 million. The company has been acquired by instrumentation and controls company HBM.

Private equity firm Nova Capial Management has exited test and data analysis specialist nCode International for £17.5 million. The company has been acquired by instrumentation and controls company HBM.

Headquartered in the US, nCode has offices in nine countries including the UK, China and Japan. It supplies durability, test and analysis software and mobile data acquisition instruments to the automotive, rail, defence, and aerospace markets.

In October 2005, it was part of a portfolio of nine non-core businesses acquired from AEA Technology by CIP Industries, which Nova has advised since inception.

Overall, the exit will represent a 2.4x money multiple for Nova. The sale marks a period of repositioning of nCode driven by new software products and entry into new markets, notably in the Asia-Pacific region.