Acquisition of additional equity in Furlong Mills

RNS Number : 1996O

Churchill China PLC

30 September 2019

 

For immediate release

30 September 2019

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (MAR).

CHURCHILL CHINA Plc

("Churchill", "Churchill China" or the "Company")

Acquisition of additional equity in Furlong Mills resulting in full ownership

Churchill China plc (AIM: CHH), the manufacturer of innovative performance ceramic products serving hospitality markets worldwide, is pleased to announce that it has acquired a further 44.4 per cent of the issued share capital of Furlong Mills Limited ('Furlong Mills') from Portmeirion Group plc ('Portmeirion'), for a total consideration of £3.3m ('the Acquisition'). The Acquisition is to be funded from the Company's existing cash resources and will result in Churchill having full ownership of Furlong Mills.

Prior to the Acquisition, Churchill owned a total of 55.6 per cent of the issued share capital of Furlong Mills, reflecting shares held for many years as well as the shares purchased from Dudson Holdings Limited in February 2019.

Furlong Mills is a ceramic materials manufacturer based in Stoke on Trent, providing processed clay body and glazes to Churchill China and to other manufacturers. Furlong Mills' products are a key part of Churchill's supply chain.

Churchill's strategy continues to be to offer innovative, high performance and technically differentiated ceramic products to hospitality markets worldwide. We expect that full ownership of Furlong Mills, with its substantial intellectual property, will facilitate further material, process and product innovation in the medium and long term and will contribute to the continued development of the Company.

Portmeirion will continue to source its raw materials from Furlong Mills under a long term supply agreement.

For the 12 months to 31 December 2018, Furlong Mills reported revenue of £9.6m, which included £3.2m of sales to Churchill China and statutory profit before tax of £0.5m. Adjusted EBITDA for the same period was £1.1m. Net assets at 31 December 2018 were £4.8m.

For further information, please contact:

Churchill China plc	Tel: [phone]
David O'Connor / David Taylor
Buchanan	Tel: [phone]
Mark Court / Sophie Wills
Investec Bank plc (Nominated Adviser and Broker)	Tel [phone]
David Flin / David Anderson / Alex Wright

 

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