Tanfield Group PLC
26 April 2006
Tanfield Group plc
Acquisition and Placing
The Tanfield Group Plc ('Tanfield' or 'the Group') the electric vehicle, aerial
access and technical assembly manufacturer, today announces the acquisition of
UpRight Inc and certain other business assets which trade under the UpRight name
or are integral to it (together 'UpRight') for a cash consideration of €10.5
million.
UpRight is a manufacturer and distributor of powered aerial platform equipment
and is one of the most widely known names in the global market, with bases in
Ireland, the USA, and Japan. The Directors believe that this acquisition
significantly strengthens the Group's powered access division.
The acquisition will be funded by a placing of 50,000,000 new ordinary shares at
a placing price of 20p, raising £10 million before expenses. These shares are
expected to be admitted to trading on AiM on 27 April 2006.
UpRight
UpRight is a significant player in the global powered access market,
manufacturing a range of scissor lifts, articulated booms, vertical extending
masts and sigma arm lifts.
Tanfield is acquiring all of the intellectual property rights and all of the
trading assets relating to the aerial access manufacturing activity (existing
products and those in development). This includes all stock, work in progress
and finished goods. Also included in the transaction are distribution and spares
sales facilities in the US, UK and Japan. As well as these operations, UpRight
has a global independent distribution network.
UpRight has seen its turnover and profits decline in recent years from a high in
2000 of sales of over $200 million to currently about $50 million. However, the
Directors believe that the products remain competitive and that the Group will
reverse this trend within a short period. The acquisition is highly
complimentary to Tanfield's existing aerial access product ranges which have
growing sales and distribution and opportunities exist to exploit cross selling,
management synergies and production synergies.
Placing
Tanfield has conditionally raised £10 million through a placing of new ordinary
shares at a price of 20p. The funds raised will be used:
* To pay the consideration and expenses of the transaction;
* To pay the expected integration costs;
* Additional capital investment; and
* To increase the working capital of the enlarged group
Following completion, the enlarged Tanfield group is expected to have
approximately £3.5 million in cash.
Roy Stanley, Chief Executive of Tanfield, commented:
'I am delighted to announce the acquisition of UpRight, which represents a
considerable step change in the scale and range of our aerial access offering.
It will make us a truly global player in the powered access industry and offers
opportunities for the global distribution of our other Group products.
The transaction follows in our successful acquisition strategy of identifying
quality, complimentary products to our existing offering which are not being
properly capitalized on by their current owners.
We expect this deal to result in a strong uplift in profitability and to be
earnings enhancing on a two-year view.
It has been a complicated transaction to complete and I would like to thank our
shareholders for their continued support of Tanfield.'
For further information:
Tanfield Group plc Tel: +44 (0) 1207 521111
Roy Stanley, Chief Executive
Daniel Stewart & Co. Tel: +44 (0) 207 776 6550
Ruari McGirr
ruari.mcgirr@danielstewart.co.uk
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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