Parity Group PLC
26 January 2006
26 January 2006
Parity Group plc
Disposal of French and German businesses
Parity Group plc ('Parity' or the 'Group') today announces the sale of
substantially all of its continental European operations. Parity has entered
into an agreement with GFT Technologies AG ('GFT'), a listed German Corporation,
under which GFT will acquire the issued share capital of a number of Parity's
European subsidiaries in Germany and France (the 'Disposal'). GFT has agreed to
acquire Parity's German business, Parity Beteiligungsgesellschaft GmbH, and its
subsidiaries and Parity's French business, Parity Eurosoft SARL, (together '
Parity Europe') for a total cash payment of EUR7.7 million as well as assumption
of external borrowings expected to amount to EUR0.7 million. The cash payment
comprises EUR5.9 million for the share capital of Parity Europe and the
settlement of EUR1.8 million of intra-group and third party debt. Parity Europe
will be sold on a cash free basis together with existing bank borrowings which,
at completion, are estimated to amount to EUR0.7 million. Completion is
expected to take place on 31 January 2006.
Based on the statutory accounts for the companies being sold, Parity Europe
reported profits before tax for the year ended 31 December 2004 of EUR0.6
million (£0.4 million) on turnover of EUR33.7 million (£22.9 million). The
value of the gross assets of Parity Europe as at 31 December 2004 was EUR10.4
million (£7.4 million).
The disposal of Parity Europe is in line with the Group's stated strategy of
disposing of its non-UK businesses, focusing its operations on the UK and
reducing the Group's indebtedness. Following the Disposal, Parity's remaining
operations in continental Europe will be in Holland, Belgium and Switzerland and
the Group continues to consider its options in relation to these businesses.
This disposal is also consistent with the announcement made by the Group on 9
December 2005, in which it indicated that the Board is focusing on the reduction
of the Group's indebtedness. The proceeds of the Disposal will be used for this
purpose but, as stated, in order to grow the business, the balance sheet must be
strengthened further and as previously indicated the Board will be progressing
discussions with shareholders to this end.
Enquiries:
Financial Dynamics - 020 7831 3113
Giles Sanderson
Harriet Keen
Cass Helstrip
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
*A Private Investor is a recipient of the information who meets all of the conditions set out below, the recipient:
Obtains access to the information in a personal capacity;
Is not required to be regulated or supervised by a body concerned with the regulation or supervision of investment or financial services;
Is not currently registered or qualified as a professional securities trader or investment adviser with any national or state exchange, regulatory authority, professional association or recognised professional body;
Does not currently act in any capacity as an investment adviser, whether or not they have at some time been qualified to do so;
Uses the information solely in relation to the management of their personal funds and not as a trader to the public or for the investment of corporate funds;
Does not distribute, republish or otherwise provide any information or derived works to any third party in any manner or use or process information or derived works for any commercial purposes.
Please note, this site uses cookies. Some of the cookies are essential for parts of the site to operate and have already been set. You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but if you do, parts of the site may not work. To find out more about the cookies used on Investegate and how you can manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy
To continue using Investegate, please confirm that you are a private investor as well as agreeing to our Privacy and Cookie Policy & Terms.