31 December 2020
XPEDIATOR PLC
("Xpediator" or the "Company" or the "Group")
Disposal
Xpediator, (AIM: XPD), a leading provider of freight management services across the UK and Central and Eastern Europe is pleased to announce that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement for the sale of EshopWedrop Holdings ("ESWD"), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Group, with Inert Logistics LLP, the controlling party of whom is Mircea Bandean the current Managing Director of ESWD. The sale is expected to complete on 31 December 2020.
ESWD is a B2C logistics service run alongside the Group's logistics operations for commercial customers. ESWD recorded a net loss of approximately £0.5m for the 12 months ended 31 December 2019. The total consideration payable is £0.3m in cash and is to be paid in equal annual instalments over the next three years which will be used to continue to grow the core business. The book value of ESWD assets (including capitalised IT expenditure, goodwill and working capital) is £0.7m which will result in a net loss on the sale of the business of £0.4m.
Mircea Bandean is a director of ESWD and therefore is a "Related Party" under the AIM Rules. As such the proposed disposal constitutes a related party transaction under the AIM Rules. The Directors, having consulted with Cenkos as the Company's nominated adviser, consider the terms of proposed disposal to be fair and reasonable insofar as the independent Shareholders are concerned.
Commenting on the sale Robert Ross, Chief Executive Officer of Xpediator, said "ESWD is a good concept but is not part of our core proposition, it was consistently loss making and a distraction from our primary operations where we see much greater potential to grow future revenues and profits. On completion of the sale, the Group will benefit from annualised cost savings of £0.35 million."
Enquiries
Xpediator plc |
|
Robert Ross, CEO |
Tel: +44 (0)330 043 239 |
|
|
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated Adviser & Broker) |
Tel: +44 (0)20 7397 8900 |
Max Hartley, Max Gould (Corporate Finance) |
|
Nick Searle (Sales)
|
|
Novella Communications (Financial Public Relations) |
Tel: +44 (0)20 3151 7008 |
Tim Robertson |
|
Fergus Young |
|
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
About Xpediator:
Xpediator is a well-established international provider of freight management services. Established in 1988, the Group's international network of offices provides road, sea and air freight services, together with logistics and warehousing in the UK and Romania. The business offers integrated freight management within the supply chain logistics and fulfilment sector, through its three main areas: freight forwarding, logistics & warehousing and transport services. With headquarters in Braintree, Essex and country offices in nine CEE countries across 38 sites, the Group currently employs over 1,000 people and was successfully listed on London's AIM market in 2017.
For more information, please visit: www.xpediator.com.
Alternatively, do follow us on Twitter at @Xpediator or find us on LinkedIn at Xpediator Plc.