The acquisition is an important one for the group, which at the beginning of September recorded a 98% rise in pre-tax and pre-interest profits to 拢2.6m for the first six months of 2006.
SMT Consulting, which is based in Oxford, has a lucrative client base, representing around 20% of the FTSE 100 companies and several Fortune 500 corporations in the financial services, telecoms and FMCG sectors.
Cello Group, which owns Farm Communications, The Leith and Target Group, said it had begun a 拢12m, three-year "banking facility" in order to fund the SMT Group acquisition.
However, the company said it would be in approximately 拢2m worth of debt after the acquisition of SMT Consulting.
Kevin Steeds, Cello Group chairman, said: "SMT is an exciting addition to the Cello Group, further strengthening our upstream research and consulting offer."
For the year to April 30 2006, SMT had a turnover of 拢3.4m. An application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for new shares in the group to be admitted to AIM, and the process is expected to be completed on September 29.
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