Result of GM, Completion of Acquisition and TVR

RNS Number : 9031W

Franchise Brands PLC

20 April 2023

 

20 April 2023

Franchise Brands plc

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

Result of General Meeting, Completion of Fundraise and Acquisition

and

Total Voting Rights

Franchise Brands plc, an international multi-brand franchise business, announces that the Resolutions put to Shareholders at the General Meeting held earlier today in connection with the Fundraise and Acquisition of Hydraulic Authority 1 Limited, the owner of Pirtek Europe Limited, were duly passed. Accordingly, the Fundraise and Acquisition announced on 3 April 2023 are expected to complete upon Admission tomorrow, 21 April 2023.

Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman of the Company, commented :

"We are pleased to conditionally complete the transformational acquisition of Pirtek Europe. The acquisition will expand  the Group's operations into ten countries and will significantly advance the Board's ambition of creating a market-leading international B2B multi-brand franchisor that generates its income equally from the UK, North America and continental Europe."

"I am delighted to welcome Pirtek Europe's strong management team, led by CEO Alex McNutt, who have made a significant commitment in the equity fundraising to finance the acquisition. We look forward to working with them and all the Pirtek Europe teams to further support franchisees to grow the combined businesses."

"We are now focused on integration and in particular, the opportunity to further leverage central services efficiently, principally in the areas of finance, marketing and technology".

The proxy votes received from shareholders on each resolution are set out below:

Resolution	Description	Votes For	% of Votes Cast	Votes Against	% of Votes Cast	Total votes cast (excluding votes withheld	Votes Withheld
ORDINARY RESOLUTIONS
RES:001	Authority to allot shares in respect of the Fundraising and Acquisition	104,002,900	99.34%	687,428	0.66%	104,690,328	6,752
SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS
RES:002	Disapplication of pre-emption rights in respect of the Fundraising and Acquisition	103,974,379	99.32%	715,949	0.68%	104,690,328	6,752

Total Voting Rights

On Admission, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 193,784,080 Ordinary Shares with one voting right each. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. Therefore, the total number of Ordinary Shares and voting rights in the Company will be 193,784,080 from Admission. This 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.

Capitalised terms used in this announcement have the meanings given to them in the announcement issued by the Company on 3 April 2023, unless the context provides otherwise.

Enquiries:

Franchise Brands plc	+ 44 (0) 162 550 7910
Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman
Andrew Mallows, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Julia Choudhury, Corporate Development Director
Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)	[phone]
Jeremy Porter / George Payne (Corporate Finance) Amrit Nahal / Joscelin Pinnington (Sales & Corporate Broking)
Dowgate Capital Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
James Serjeant / Russell Cook / Nicholas Chambers (Corporate Finance)
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Matthew Blawat / Francis North
MHP Group (Financial PR)	[phone]
Katie Hunt / Catherine Chapman	[phone]
	[e-mail]

About Franchise Brands plc

Franchise Brands is an international, multi-brand franchisor focused on building market-leading businesses primarily via a franchise model. The Group including Pirtek Europe has a combined network of 650 franchisees across seven franchise brands in ten countries covering the UK, North America and Europe.

Franchise Brands' focus is on B2B van-based reactive and planned services. The Company owns several market-leading brands with a long trading history, including Metro Rod, Metro Plumb, Filta and now Pirtek in Europe, all of which benefit from the Group's central support services, in particular technology, marketing, management experience and other group resources. At the centre of Franchise Brands' business building strategy is helping its franchisees grow their businesses: "if they grow, we grow".

Franchise Brands, including Pirtek Europe, employs some 690 people across the Group.

For further information, visit  www.franchisebrands.co.uk

 

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