Completion of Acquisition and Readmission to AIM

RNS Number : 9217K

Animalcare Group PLC

13 July 2017

 

Animalcare Group plc

("Animalcare" or the "Company")

Completion of Acquisition

and Readmission of the Enlarged Group to trading on AIM

Animalcare Group plc (AIM: ANCR) is pleased to announce the admission of its Enlarged Share Capital to trading on AIM. Dealings have commenced at 8.00 a.m. today.

This follows the successful acquisition of Ecuphar NV by Animalcare and a placing of 9,340,168 Placing Shares at the Placing Price of 350p to raise approximately £32.7 million (before expenses) which also completed today. The Placing consisted of 8,571,428 New Placing Shares placed by the Company and 768,740 Sale Shares sold by the Selling Shareholders at the Placing Price.

The Board believes that Animalcare and Ecuphar are highly complementary businesses, in particular with regard to their geographic markets, product portfolios and new product development pipelines and the Acquisition will provide enhanced scale and capabilities. As such, the Board considers the Acquisition to provide an opportunity to create a specialist pan-European animal health company that gives the Enlarged Group leadership in its chosen niches that is supported by attractive and complementary market drivers. The Board believes that the Enlarged Group will represent a growing, highly cash generative and dividend paying animal health company with a solid pipeline of new veterinary pharmaceutical products. The Board believes that, taking into account the business and prospects of the Enlarged Group, the Acquisition will be enhancing to the Board's expectations of underlying earnings for the Existing Group in the first full financial year of ownership.

Terms used in this announcement shall have the meanings given to them in the Company's admission document dated 24 June 2017 unless otherwise specified, a copy of which is available to view at:

www.animalcaregroup.co.uk/investors/constitutional-documents/aim-admission-document

Enquiries:

Animalcare Group plc Chris Cardon, Chief Executive Officer Tel: [phone] Walter Beyers, Chief Financial Officer Iain Menneer, Chief Operating Officer Panmure Gordon (UK) Ltd (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Tel: [phone] Corporate Finance Freddy Crossley / Peter Steel / Duncan Monteith Corporate Broking James Stearns Rothschild (Financial Adviser) Tel: [phone] Stephen Griffiths Tim Day Walbrook PR Ltd Tel: [phone] or [e-mail] Paul McManus Mob: [phone] Lianne Cawthorne Mob: [phone]

About Animalcare (www.animalcaregroup.co.uk)

Animalcare Group plc is a UK AIM listed veterinary sales, marketing and product development company resulting from the merger of Animalcare and Ecuphar NV.

Animalcare is a pan-European animal health company, with a large geographic footprint. The Company has direct sales in seven countries (UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany) and exports to approximately 50 markets worldwide.

The company has nearly 100 sales representatives and 28 agents operating across Europe and owns 50 licensed drugs, eight vaccines and over 100 care and nutraceutical products.

Animalcare invests in developing its own pharmaceutical products, seeks distribution partnerships and product acquisitions.

For more information see Animalcare Ltd (www.animalcare.co.uk) and Ecuphar NV (www.ecuphar.com).

Forward looking statements

Certain statements contained herein are forward looking statements and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the potential returns of the Group and industry and markets in which the Group operates and will operate, the Existing Directors' and the Proposed Directors' beliefs and assumptions made by the Existing Directors and the Proposed Directors. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "should", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "projects", "pipeline", "aims", "may", "targets", "would", "could" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward looking statements and expectations. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or the ability to identify and consummate investments and involve certain risks, uncertainties, outcomes of negotiations and due diligence and assumptions that are difficult to predict, qualify or quantify. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward looking statements or expectations. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are: the general economic climate, competition, interest rate levels, loss of key personnel, the result of legal and commercial due diligence, the availability of financing on acceptable terms and changes in the legal or regulatory environment. These forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this document. The Company, the Existing Directors and the Proposed Directors expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein, or to reflect any change in their expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based save as required to comply with any legal or regulatory obligations (including the AIM Rules for Companies).

 

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