UK recruitment firm Hydrogen Group (HYDG: AIM) has agreed to acquire London-based recruitment firm Argyll Scott Limited for £3.3 million.

The acquisition will occur through the issue of 9,034,110 consideration shares representing approximately 27.4% of the enlarged share capital. Hydrogen will then acquire the minority Interests in separate tranches up to April 2021 to be satisfied by payment in cash and/or through the issue of new Ordinary Shares.

Hydrogen also said that, conditional on completion of the acquisition, Argyll Scott Chief Executive John Hunter would join the board of the enlarged group as an executive director and would be responsible for further developing businesses in APAC and the US.

Since its founding in 2009, the Argyll Scott Group has grown to 96 staff operating from offices in London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok. In January 2017, the Argyll Scott Group acquired the Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur based operations of Reed Specialist Recruitment Group further broadening its footprint in the APAC market.

Hydrogen Chief Executive Ian Temple would continue in his capacity as CEO of the enlarged group and would retain primary responsibility for defining the group's strategy.

"This acquisition will rapidly expand Hydrogen's presence in Asia through broadening our contact base in order to leverage new and existing relationships to ensure the business continues to find the highest calibre candidates for our clients,” Temple said. “In addition we expect the acquisition to provide a number of synergy benefits through the alignment of internal procedures and the dilution of central costs. I thank our existing shareholders for their support of the transaction. Over the course of the following months we will work hard to fully integrate the Argyll Scott Group to Hydrogen to ensure the full benefits of the acquisition are realised for our shareholders.”

John Hunter, CEO of the Argyll Scott Group, also commented: “By joining the Hydrogen Group, Argyll Scott will be able to accelerate its growth plans, access the fast growing APAC contract market and offer greater career opportunities for its people."