Victoria PLC Completion of acquisition (2288H)

TIDMVCP

RNS Number : 2288H

Victoria PLC

05 April 2022

For Immediate Release 5 April 2022

Victoria PLC

('Victoria' or the 'Group')

Completion of the Carve Out & Acquisition of

the Rugs & UK Carpet Divisions of Balta Group NV

Victoria PLC (LSE: VCP), the international designer, manufacturer and distributor of innovative flooring, i s pleased to confirm that, following the announcement on 29 November 2021, it has completed the acquisition of the highly profitable and growing rugs division of Balta Group, the Belgium-based flooring company, along with its profitable UK polypropylene carpet and non-woven carpet businesses (collectively "the Divisions"), together with the internationally-known brand, "Balta" (the "Acquisition"). More information about the Acquisition is available on Victoria's website at www.victoriaplc.com/balta-presentation.

The total consideration, taking into account working capital movements and cash generation since 29 November is approximately EUR164 million (GBP139m(1) ), including an expected small completion adjustment to be settled in the coming weeks. This has been met entirely from the Group's existing cash balances. As at 28 February 2022, the Divisions had debt(2) of approximately EUR55 million (GBP47m(1) ), which remains in place.

For the 12 months ended March 2021, the Divisions generated unaudited total revenues of EUR307.0 million (c. GBP260.2m(1) ) (FY2020: EUR303.5m) and normalised EBITDA of EUR35.5 million (c. GBP30.1m(1) ) (FY2020: EUR29.9m). As at 28 February 2022, net assets(3) excluding the above debt were approximately EUR238 million (c. GBP202m(1) ).

The Acquisition will be immediately earnings-accretive. Furthermore, Victoria has acquired specifically those Divisions that provide the maximum synergistic opportunities. The full integration of the Divisions with Victoria's existing manufacturing and distribution operations over the next 24-36 months are expected by the Board to deliver in excess of EUR15 million per year of ongoing cost synergies, which will create significant value for shareholders.

Victoria's operating management have proven their ability to deliver synergies, and are laser focused on execution of its detailed pre-closing cost and revenue synergy plan. A short case study of the gains achieved at one of the Group's early carpet acquisitions, Abingdon Flooring, is available on Victoria's website at: www.victoriaplc.com/abingdon-case-study.

Cyrille Ragoucy, Balta's Chief Executive said,

"I would like to thank the whole Balta team for the passion, the dedication and the hard work to achieve the completion of this mutually beneficial transaction with Victoria PLC . I wish our colleagues at Balta Home, the Residential PP business and Captiqs all the best under the new ownership."

Philippe Hamers, Victoria's Chief Executive said,

"We are excited to have completed the Balta Rugs and Broadloom Carpet acquisition and we are looking forward to developing the planned synergies with our incumbent business. We cannot wait to get started working closely together with our new colleagues. I would like to thank the selling Balta management team for the professional and straightforward discussions which have led to this successful deal."

(1) Applying a GBP:EUR exchange rate of 1.18

(2) Excluding IFRS 16 operating leases

(3) Source: Balta management accounts; prior to any fair value adjustments or recognition of intangible assets on acquisitions under IFRS

 
For more information contact:Victoria PLC 
  Geoff Wilding, Executive Chairman 
  Philippe Hamers, Group Chief Executive 
  Michael Scott, Group Finance Director       +44 (0) 1562 749 610 
 
  Singer Capital Markets (Nominated Adviser 
  and Joint Broker) 
  Rick Thompson, Phil Davies, Alex Bond        +44 (0) 207 496 3095 
 Berenberg (Joint Broker) 
  Ben Wright, Richard Bootle 
 
  Peel Hunt (Joint Broker)                    +44 (0) 203 207 7800 
  Adrian Trimmings, Andrew Clark 
                                               +44 (0) 207 418 8900 
  Buchanan Communications (Financial PR) 
  Charles Ryland, Chris Lane, Tilly Abraham    +44 (0) 20 7466 5000 
 
 About Victoria 
  Established in 1895 and listed since 1963 
  and on AIM since 2013 (VCP.L), Victoria 
  PLC, is an international manufacturer and 
  distributor of innovative flooring products. 
  The Group, which is headquartered in Kidderminster, 
  UK, designs, manufactures and distributes 
  a range of carpet, flooring underlay, ceramic 
  tiles, LVT (luxury vinyl tile), artificial 
  grass and flooring accessories. 
 
  Victoria has operations in the UK, Spain, 
  Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Turkey, 
  the United States and Australia and employs 
  approximately 4,500 people across 30 sites. 
  Victoria is the UK's largest carpet manufacturer 
  and the second largest in Australia, as 
  well as the largest manufacturer of underlay 
  in both regions. 
 
  The Group's strategy is designed to create 
  value for its shareholders and is focused 
  on consistently increasing earnings and 
  cash flow per share via acquisitions and 
  sustainable organic growth. (Further information 
  about Victoria can be found on its website, 
  www.victoriaplc.com.)

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

ACQMZGGDLDGGZZM

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 05, 2022 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

Victoria (LSE:VCP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024