20 April 2018
This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure by this announcement, was inside information for the purposes of the Market Abuse Regulation.
Parity Group plc ("Parity "or the "Group")
Disposal of non-core subsidiary
The Board of Parity (AIM:PTY), the technology focussed consultancy and staffing business announces the sale of Inition Limited ("Inition") to Digital Communication Group Limited, a UK registered company, for a total consideration of £200,000 payable in cash with £100,000 payable on completion and the balance payable in 6 months.
Inition is a wholly owned subsidiary which delivers virtual and augmented reality technology experiences. In the year ended 31 December 2017, Inition made a loss before tax of £1.0m on turnover of £2.3m. All employees of Inition will transfer with the business.
Due to its lack of scale and synergy with the Group's strategy the Board identified Inition as being no longer part of the core business and it was classified as an asset held for sale in the Group's financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2017 with a book value of £396k. Following the disposal, the Group will benefit from the reduction in the cash cost of funding Inition's operating losses, which totalled £712k in 2017, and the net cash proceeds which will reduce indebtedness.
Alan Rommel, CEO, commented:
"The sale of Inition is a further important step to simplify and align the business in line with our stated strategy of growing our core staffing and higher margin consultancy businesses. The disposal will help to further reduce indebtedness and improve both cash flow and profitability, allowing us to make strategic investment decisions which drive shareholder value."
Contacts:
Parity Group PLC www.parity.net
Alan Rommel, CEO + 44 (0) 208 543 5353
Roger Antony, GFD
WH Ireland Limited www.whirelandcb.com
Mike Coe / Ed Allsopp +44 (0) 117 945 3470
MHP Communications parity@mhpc.com
Katie Hunt / Kelsey Traynor +44 (0)203 128 8100