Completion of acquisition of Metro Rod Limited

RNS Number : 1197C

Franchise Brands PLC

11 April 2017

 

11 April 2017

FRANCHISE BRANDS PLC

("Franchise Brands", the "Company" or the "Group")

Completion of acquisition of Metro Rod Limited ("Metro Rod"), Directors' shareholdings and Total Voting Rights

Franchise Brands plc, a multi-brand international franchisor, is pleased to announce that further to its announcement of 10 April 2017, its enlarged share capital has this morning been admitted to trading on AIM and completion of the acquisition of Metro Rod has occurred.

Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman, said:

"I am delighted to announce the completion of the acquisition of Metro Rod, which represents a transformational step in respect of implementing the Group's stated buy and build strategy. We welcome Metro Rod to the Franchise Brands Group and look forward to working with our new team members and franchisees."

Directors' shareholdings

All of the Directors of the Company participated in the placing to raise gross proceeds of £20 million, details of which were announced on 23 March 2017. The Directors now have the following shareholdings in the Company:

Director	Number of Ordinary Shares held	Percentage of Ordinary Shares in issue
Stephen Hemsley	20,463,117	26.33
Nigel Wray	21,543,120	27.71
David Poutney	2,033,970	2.62
Julia Choudhury	1,204,258	1.55
Tim Harris	1,059,284	1.36
Robin Auld	946,195	1.22
Rob Bellhouse	82,768	0.11
Total	47,332,712	60.89

Total Voting Rights

The issued share capital of the Company consists of 77,732,033 Ordinary Shares, with one voting right per share. The Company does not hold any shares in treasury.

The above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

The same definitions apply throughout this announcement as set out in the announcement of 23 March 2017, unless the context requires otherwise.

For further information, please contact:

Franchise Brands plc                                                                                                                    + 44 (0) 800 012 6462

Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman

Julia Choudhury, Corporate Development Director

MHP Communications                                                                                                                 [phone]
(Financial PR)                                                                                                                                [e-mail]

Katie Hunt / Hannah Winter
 

Allenby Capital Limited                                                                                                              [phone]
(Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
Jeremy Porter/ James Thomas / Liz Kirchner
 

Dowgate Capital Stockbrokers                                                                                                   [phone]

(Joint Broker)

James Serjeant / Neil Badger

Further information on Franchise Brands:

Franchise Brands is a group of international multi-brand franchisors with a combined network currently of over 450 franchisees in 12 countries, but predominantly in the UK.  The Group's main brands are ChipsAway, a mobile car paintwork repair specialist with over 220 franchisees in the UK; Ovenclean, a mobile domestic oven cleaning business with over 100 franchisees; Barking Mad, a leading franchise provider of dog sitting services in the UK with over 70 franchisees and Metro Rod, a leading provider of drain clearance and maintenance services with 40 franchisees.

Founded in September 2008 by Stephen Hemsley (Executive Chairman) and Nigel Wray (Non-Executive Director), the Group's principal shareholders, Franchise Brands has a highly experienced management team and Board with extensive expertise in franchising (gained through their notable involvement with Domino's Pizza), operating and growing profitable businesses and investigating acquisition targets.

Franchise Brands has developed a highly professional central services platform including marketing, franchise recruitment and support services such as IT, which enables it to support the acquisition of some new franchise brands without significantly increasing its central overhead.

The Board has a clear strategy to build the Group by the selective, earnings enhancing acquisition of high quality franchise businesses that can benefit from its central services, whilst addressing the same B2B and B2C market as its existing brands. 

Franchise Brands was admitted to AIM in August 2016 (ticker code: FRAN.L). 

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Stephen Glen Hemsley
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Executive Chairman
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 7,462,686
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Timothy John Harris
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Chief Executive Officer
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 59,522
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Julia Rosalind Choudhury
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Corporate Development Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 194,029
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Robin Nigel Auld
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Marketing Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 37,313
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Nigel William Wray
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-Executive Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 7,462,686
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue
1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	Robin Christian Bellhouse
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-Executive Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 37,313
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

1	Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities / person closely associated
a)	Name	David John Poutney
2	Reason for the notification
a)	Position/status	Non-Executive Director
b)	Initial notification /Amendment	Initial notification
3	Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)	Name	Franchise Brands plc
b)	LEI	n/a
4	Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)	Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument Identification code	Ordinary shares of 0.5p each ISIN code: GB00BD6P7Y24
b)	Nature of the transaction
c)	Price(s) and volume(s)	Price(s) Volume(s) £0.67 1,417,910
d)	Aggregated information - Aggregated volume - Price	N/A
e)	Date of the transaction	11 April 2017
f)	Place of the transaction	Outside a trading venue

 

END

 

 

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