Computer whiz banks £10m

By LUCY FARNDON
Updated: 03:56 EST, 27 January 2006

A COMPUTER whiz from Hertfordshire is celebrating a windfall of up to £10m after selling his database firm ClarityBlue.

GUS is paying an initial £85m for the company plus up to a further £15m over three years if all goes to plan.

ClarityBlue's founder and chief executive David Painter, 35, owned a stake worth £8m. He could get a further £2m from an earn-out. The bulk of the firm was owned by private equity firm ECI Partners which paid £10m for its stake in 2003.

ClarityBlue designs and manages marketing databases for clients. It is on track to make £5m profit this year. GUS (up 5½p to 1024p) has acquired the business because it would fit well with its Experian financial services arm, which checks credit references.

Mobile phone firms O2 and Orange use ClarityBlue's services, as do BSkyB and Barclaycard.

Painter launched the UK arm of Sand Technology in 1998 when he was just 27. He built ClarityBlue after a management buyout from Sand.