Disposal
January 21 2004 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
RNS Number:4509U
Panther Securities PLC
21 January 2004
21st January, 2004
PANTHER SECURITIES P.L.C.
("Panther" or "the Company")
Disposal and Acquisition
Disposal of interest in Oakburn Properties plc
On 19th January, 2004, Hodgson & Faraday Property Management Services Limited
announced that it had received acceptances to its offer for Oakburn Properties
plc ("Oakburn") in respect of all the outstanding shares and that it now held
100 per cent. of the issued share capital of Oakburn. At the time of the offer
Panther held 247,124 ordinary shares in Oakburn, which were acquired at a cost
of #5.77 per share. Panther accepted the partial dividend alternative, which was
#6.00 in cash and #1.60 (net) by way of a special dividend. Accordingly, Panther
achieved a profit on its investment, before costs of approximately #452,000, of
which approximately #395,000 will be received by way of franked income which
will not be subject to any further corporate taxation.
Acquisition of three freehold factories
Panther also announces that on 23rd December 2003 it acquired 29,59 and 61
Central Avenue, West Molesey, Surrey, which comprise three freehold factories
totaling approximately 80,000 sq ft.
The properties were purchased from the administrative receiver of Arcoletric
Holdings PLC ("Arcoletric") for #3.6 million. The properties were simultaneously
leased to Elektron PLC ("Elektron") at #417,500 p.a. on 10 year leases.
Contemporaneously with the acquisition of the properties by Panther, Elektron
acquired the business and assets of Arcoletric and Arcoletric Switches plc
("Switches"), as announced by Elektron on 24th December, 2003. Switches
manufactures appliance switches, indicator lights and fuseholders for use in
domestic appliances and industrial applications.
To provide Elektron PLC with additional working capital Panther sold Aridmark
Limited, a recently formed wholly owned subsidiary of Panther, for 9,090,909
shares in Elektron (equivalent to a value of 5.5p per Elektron ordinary share),
resulting in Panther holding approximately 14 per cent. of Elektron's enlarged
capital. The only asset of Aridmark Limited was #500,000 in cash.
Elektron PLC is an AIM listed company operating in the electronic sector which
in the year to 31st January, 2003 incurred an operating loss on continuing
operations before exceptional items and amortisation of goodwill of #118,000 on
turnover of #11.1 million. Switches reported an operating profit of #19,000 on
turnover of #13.9 million in its last auditied accounts to 31 December, 2001.
Unaudited accounts for the year ended 31 December, 2002 show an operating loss
of #242,000 on sales of #14.2 million. In the ten months to 31 October, 2003,
Switches management accounts show an operating loss of #1.4 million on sales of
#12.3 million. The Directors of Panther consider that investing in Elektron's
expansion programme provides considerable potential upside.
The acquisition of the properties and the investment in Elektron were funded
entirely out of Panther's existing cash resources.
Enquiries
Panther Securities PLC
Andrew Perloff Tel: 020 7278 8011
John East & Partners Limited
David Worlidge / Simon Clements Tel: 020 7628 2200
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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