Deeter will remain with the company, leading AIF’s day-to-day business.
Mortgage broker Karl Deeter has sold his business Artificial Intelligence Finance (AIF) to London-listen Software Circle in a deal valued up to €9m.
The Manchester-based Software Circle, a serial software business acquirer, has purchased 95pc of the business for €4.3m, with €670,000 payable a year after the sale’s completion.
The company can purchase the remaining 5pc for €4m in two years based on targets relating to AIF’s performance. Deeter will remain with the company, leading AIF’s day-to-day business.
Based in Dublin, AIF is traded under the name OnlineApplication. Deeter develop the online platform back in 2006 after seeing the need for a cloud-based mortgage platform, and incorporated the company in 2020 with support from Enterprise Ireland. AIF later acquired Money Advice in 2024.
Together with its subsidiary, Lunar Technologies, AIF provides its software services to insurance and mortgage brokers, as well as to lenders and insurers.
The business continues to experience strong growth, reporting revenue of €2.2m in 2023. Software Circle forecasts that the deal will result in annual group revenue of roughly £22m.
“Karl and his team have built a remarkable business and we’re proud he chose Software Circle as the new permanent home for AIF. Together we plan to build on their momentum and solidify OnlineApplication as the number one platform in its field,” said Gavin Cockerill, the CEO of Software Circle.
“AIF fits squarely within our acquisition strategy – high recurring revenue, sticky vertical software, and a leadership team that shares our values and drive for success. This is a further example of our capital being invested into a business capable of delivering sustainable returns and, with Karl, one where we see a clear opportunity to expand its market presence.”
Deeter said, “We are really pleased to find a forever home with Software Circle whose strategy of acquiring and building software companies like ours is well established. We believe they will help bring the company to an even higher level of achievement, which in our case is about enabling brokers to be the number one delivery channel for digital financial services and to be the number one firm in that space.”
Deeter is a prominent contributor in the Irish media, having appeared on RTE Drivetime’s recurring segment on finance and as a financial commentator on Newstalk.
“The support from our initial investors and Enterprise Ireland has been great and this deal rewards that trust and investment. Our full team will remain in place, and for our customers it will be business as usual but with the added advantage of having a PLC owner who will help us deliver even more to our clients while moving us out of the ‘start-up’ space so we can tackle bigger opportunities,” he added.
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