Acquisition

RNS Number : 0484O

Victoria PLC

12 September 2011

 



Issued by Citigate Dewe Rogerson Ltd, Birmingham

Date: Monday, 12 September 2011

Victoria moves into the luxury vinyl flooring market

Victoria PLC ("Victoria" or the "Group") today announces it has acquired the business of C & H Distribution Limited ("C & H"), for an initial cash consideration of £400,000. A further consideration of £50,000 will become due provided mutually agreed sales objectives are achieved.

Based in Willand, near Exeter in Devon, C&H distributes luxury vinyl tiles, primarily to the Contract market in the UK.

Under the acquisition agreement, Victoria has acquired the brand and goodwill together with stocks and certain assets including supplier and sales agreements. As at 31 August 2011 the assets being acquired by Victoria had a net book value of £100,182.

The acquisition, which is funded from the Group's cash resources, is expected to be earnings enhancing for the Group in its first full year of ownership.

Commenting on the acquisition, Alan Bullock, Victoria's Group Managing Director said:

"C&H is an important step towards achieving our stated objective of becoming the leading high quality flooring supplier in both Australasia and the UK.

"For a modest outlay, it gives Victoria an immediate and significant entry into the luxury vinyl flooring market, a segment of the market which offers both higher margin and excellent growth potential."

Following the acquisition, Victoria will create a new luxury flooring division aimed at widening its product offering and channels to market. At the same time it will expand the C & H product portfolio and enhance its marketing strategy in order to strengthen sales in the contract market whilst also using its excellent relationships in the Independent Retail Sector to capture additional market share in the residential market.

To support this move, the Board is pleased to announce that it has recruited Paul Shaw, who has over 23 years of wide ranging floorcovering experience with Amtico to spearhead this new business.  The Board is satisfied that this will allow the Victoria team to remain focussed on its core quality carpet business.

Enquiries:

Victoria PLC	Citigate Dewe Rogerson	Arden Partners
Alan Bullock Group Managing Director Tel: [phone]	Fiona Tooley, Director Keith Gabriel, Senior Account Manager	Steve Douglas Corporate Finance Director
Ian Davies Group Finance Director Office: [phone]	Office: [phone] Mobile: [phone] (FMT)	Office: [phone]

Forward looking statements:

Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast or be interpreted to mean that the future earnings per share or profits of Victoria will necessarily be greater than the historic published earnings per share.

 

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