Board Appointment in Pressfit Holdings Plc

RNS Number : 6610N

Craven House Capital PLC

02 October 2012

 



2 October 2012

CRAVEN HOUSE CAPITAL PLC

("Craven House" or the "Company")

Board appointment in Pressfit Holdings Plc

The Company is today pleased to announce that its Acting Chairman, Mr. Mark Pajak, has been appointed to the position of Non-Executive Chairman of Pressfit Holdings Plc ("Pressfit").

Craven House has accumulated a 36.9% shareholding in Pressfit following investments made in the company over the course of 2012 and 2011. A further 3% of the share capital of Pressfit is available to Craven House, should Craven House choose to convert the outstanding convertible loan made to Pressfit in September 2011.

This appointment follows the Company's visit to Pressfit's manufacturing facility in Shandong Province in March 2012 and reflects the close relationship that has been established between the two companies. Pressfit's CEO, Mr Yung Kit Henry Chiu, commented;

"The investments made by Craven House since 2011 have been fundamental in helping Pressfit achieve its short-term goals related to product development. As we enter what we anticipate to be an exciting and rapid growth phase for Pressfit, we are keen to establish a closer link to the management of Craven House as we recognise and value their expertise in the global capital markets; particularly relating to emerging markets. This will be critical to us as we look to expand our distribution base overseas and progress toward a public listing in the next 18 to 24 months."

Pressfit is an unquoted UK public limited company with Hong Kong and Chinese subsidiaries, which utilises proprietary technology to manufacture high-precision, thin walled stainless steel and carbon steel pipes and fittings used for plumbing and heating applications in the commercial, residential, industrial and agricultural sectors.  Distribution of these products is tightly controlled by rigorous certification standards, which vary according to jurisdiction.

Pressfit has made significant progress over the course of the past 18 months and has successfully obtained certification to distribute its products into the UK, the EU, Hong Kong, China, Macau and most recently the US. With these certifications in place, Pressfit's management is now focused on securing significant orders in these target markets.

Distribution agreements have been signed with and orders shipped to companies in the UK, Denmark and Hong Kong. In addition, advanced discussions are underway regarding distribution and OEM arrangements with companies in Spain, Germany and Australia. Pressfit has also recently completed a successful relocation of its facilities to Guangdong Province in Southern China, which brings it closer to a number of its suppliers and will result in lower shipping costs to export its products.

Pressfit is the only manufacturer in China that has so far successfully entered the European-standard press-fit market.  They therefore have the potential to achieve high margins while offering customers a more competitively priced product than its European-based competitors that currently dominate the market, which is worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year and growing.

Mark Pajak, Acting Chairman of Craven House, commented, "We have been greatly encouraged by the progress that Pressfit has made over the course of 2012. It has made significant progress toward achieving its stated goal of becoming a major global supplier of press-fittings. We believe that they are now very well positioned to acquire a substantial market share in this growing segment of a multi billion-dollar industry and to achieve a stand-alone public listing within two years"

For further information please contact:

Craven House Capital Plc:
www.cravenhousecapital.com
Alexandra Eavis Non Executive Director & Company Secretary	Tel: [phone]
Daniel Stewart & Company Plc: (Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Antony Legge/James Thomas	Tel: [phone]

 

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