Proactive Investors - Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC (LON:COGC), a developer of digital technology for assessing brain health, has acquired Winterlight Labs Inc in a cash and paper deal worth £7mln.
Toronto-based Winterlight specialises in monitoring cognitive impairment through speech analysis.
Matthew Stork, chief executive of the UK group, said the transaction would create a company with strengths across technology platforms for screen-based, structured voice-based, and free-speech-based cognitive assessments for clinical trials.
He believes the combination of the two companies will result in a leading position in voice biomarker technology for clinical trials and potential healthcare applications in the future.
Cambridge Cognition commissioned market research that estimates the market opportunity for Winterlight's technology could exceed £25mln (US$30mln) by 2027.
It also told investors said the acquisition will also bring cross-selling opportunities, thanks to the limited overlap between the two companies' existing customer base.
Winterlight is expected to generate more than £2mln in revenue for Cambridge Cognition in 2023 and to post "considerable growth" the following year.
This strategic move will position the company as a leading player in the vocal biomarker technology market for clinical trials.
The UK group is paying £3mln out of its cash reserves (which at the year-end were £8.3mln) as well as handing over £4mln worth of shares.