At OMG, the provider of ‘image understanding’ technology for industries such as entertainment, life sciences and engineering, the investment picture continues to brighten.

Originally recommended by Growth Company Investor at 35.5p in 2006, the group’s technology captures the movements of everyone from actors for the movie industry and sports stars (for the purposes of video games or improving team performance) to children with cerebral palsy, with clients ranging from hospitals to Hollywood studios.

OMG has announced the acquisition of Mobile Video Services (MVS), a profitable US-based provider of data collection services for the assessment of property taxation, for £2m in cash and shares. Chief executive Nick Bolton said the earnings-enhancing deal ‘represents the next important step’ in the development of 3D mapping arm Yotta, which collects and analyses highway data and street-level imaging. Providing Yotta with a profitable foothold from which to expand its 3D mapping activities in North America, MVS occupies a leading position in the market for the collection of data for property appraisal, where its services are employed by an array of county and city departments, as well as by emergency services and law enforcement bodies.

This looks a strategically astute deal for OMG, which delighted with an 11% rise in profits to £1.84m, from record sales increased by 20% to £19.6m, for the year to September 2007. Closing the year with £6.2m cash, OMG trades on a historic multiple of just under 20 times, which isn’t particularly cheap but, with demand for its products and services remaining healthy, it is worth topping up holdings in this market-leading technology star.

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