Re Placing

RNS Number : 0100K

Brulines Group PLC

12 December 2008

 



Press Release

12 December 2008

Brulines Group plc

('Brulines' or 'the Group')

Conditional Placing of up to 3,786,641 shares to raise approximately £4.7 million (before expenses)

Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the market leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK leisure sector, today announces a conditional placing of up to 3,786,641 ordinary shares (the 'Placing Shares') with various institutional investors at a price of £1.25 per share (the 'Placing Price') to raise approximately £4.7 million before expenses (the 'Placing'). The Placing is conditional, inter alia, on resolutions being passed at a General Meeting of the Group to be held on 29 December 2008. The Placing Shares are expected to be admitted to AIM and commence trading on 30 December 2008.  

The Directors believe the current economic climate is providing the Group with significant opportunities as is evidenced by the Group's announcement earlier today of the acquisition of Vianet Limited ('Vianet').  Vianet provides, what the Directors believe is, market leading telemetry and data capture solutions to the vending industry as well as providing market leading M2M telemetry solutions in a growing market place. The Directors believe that this acquisition not only makes strong strategic sense but will allow both Vianet and Brulines to exploit the obvious operating synergies that exist between them. For further information please see the earlier acquisition announcement.  

With the Group well placed to sustain its organic growth path within the leisure sector, the Directors believe that the Placing will enable the Group to take advantage of further complimentary acquisition and commercial opportunities as and when they arise, as well as strengthening considerably the Group's balance sheet.   Such acquisitions would enable the Group to extend its core capabilities into adjacent markets, where the Directors believe there exists an opportunity to establish market leading products and services, as well as consolidating in sectors in which the Group already operates.  The Group's strategic intent is to profitably extend its data handling penetration and footprint in the leisure, vending and petrol forecourt sectors where there is considerable overlap, and to achieve market leading positions using its core capabilities and market leading products.  

Brulines has entered into a placing agreement with Cenkos Securities plc ('Cenkos') pursuant to which Cenkos has, on behalf of Brulines, conditionally placed the shares with various investors at the Placing Price.  

A circular containing details of the placing is being posted to shareholders today and will be available on the Group's website:  www.brulines.com    

Commenting on today's news, Chief Executive James Dickson said:

'I am delighted at the level of institutional support, which endorses our growth strategy.  We are excited about the opportunity to build a stronger business and to capitalise on the opportunity to expand our core capabilities into adjacent markets.'

Brulines Group plc James Dickson, Chief Executive
Mark Foster, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.brulines.com

Cenkos Securities plc Stephen Keys/Camilla Hume

Tel: [phone]

Media enquiries:

Abchurch
Sarah Hollins / Chris Lane / Jack Ballantyne	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

  About Brulines

Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's pub, leisure, gaming and petrol sectors. The Group has four core divisions:

Dispense Monitoring (DMS)	The Group's core product, DMS, is widely used by owners and operators within the UK licensed on-trade, especially the tenanted / leased pub sector. Intelligent Flow Meters ('IFM'), connected to draught beer dispense lines send data via an on-site communication panel to a secure central database. Liquid volumes by fount, spirit optic, draught wine or post mix are tracked as they are served, thereby helping customers to maximise sales, service and quality as well as managing their costs . DMS is installed in over 22,000 pubs and manages data for more than one in three UK pubs.
Brand Quality Management  (BQM)	BQM is an extension of the Group's DMS and is the first system to provide effective measurement of true yields on draught products. Actual dispense volumes are compared with till transactions to identify shrinkage from products given away, pilferage and wastage. BQM measures the precise temperature of every pint as it is dispensed, the time taken to dispense each drink, and automatically identifies the liquid allowing customers to know exactly when lines are cleaned. Wherever they are customers can stay in control through accessing their information on a secure web site.
Leisure	The Group's subsidiaries Machine Insite and Coin metrics are involved in monitoring Amusement with Prize Machines ('AWP'). Customers benefit from state-of-the-art real-time data capture and reporting systems that deliver improved machine profitability and operational security.
UK Petrol Forecourt Management	The Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, Edensure, supplies key management information to independent, multi branded owner, and supermarket petrol forecourt operators in the UK which helps reduce loss of fuel and improve profitability

Headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, Brulines employs more than 200 people. 

For further information, please visit www.brulines.com

 

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