Manchester-based entrepreneur Richard Beaton has acquired one of the leading IT software groups in the housebuilding sector.

Beaton, owner of the Tekton Group, bought SiteStream for £12.6m in a deal that was completed over Christmas.

Beaton said the company was now well placed to dominate construction software owing to its partnership with Microsoft.

SiteStream is the fourth acquisition within the last year by Tekton, which Beaton formed in 2005 from the management buyout of a company called Intuita and the acquisition of a Scottish business called EVision.

Tekton employs 54 people, and has offices in Barton-under-Needwood in Staffordshire, Manchester and Livingston in Scotland. The acquisition of SiteStream will add another in Farnham, Surrey.

Tekton had a turnover of £6.5m in 2006 and expects to increase that to £8.9m in 2007 through the acquisition of SiteStream and the growth of its existing business.

The company caters for construction companies of all sizes, and has deals with Wates and Skanska.