This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is
disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under
Article 17 of MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement via
the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.
20
May 2024
Victorian Plumbing Group
plc
("Victorian Plumbing" or "Company")
Acquisition of Victoria
Plum
Victorian Plumbing (AIM: VIC), the
UK's leading bathroom retailer, announces the acquisition by
Victorian Plumbing Limited, a subsidiary of the Company, of the
entire issued share capital of AHK Designs Ltd, trading as Victoria
Plum ("Victoria Plum") (the "Acquisition")1 on 17 May
2024. Victoria Plum is an online only UK bathroom retailer,
headquartered in Doncaster, UK.
The purchase price for the
Acquisition is £22.5m, on a cash free, debt free basis, subject to
adjustment for normalised working capital. The Acquisition has been
funded from the Company's existing cash reserves. The purchase
price represents c.0.5x Victoria Plum's estimated annual revenue
and reflects the significant strategic value to the Company of the
Victoria Plum brand and its associated intellectual property. The
Company's expectation is that Victoria Plum will be broadly break
even in the second half of 2024.
Given that Victoria Plum has
recently been through an administration and there is already a cost
reduction programme in progress, the Company intends to continue to
trade the business as normal initially, pending finalisation of our
integration plan. Further information will be provided on 28 May
2024 alongside the Company's interim results for the six month
period ended 31 March 2024.
Mark Radcliffe, CEO of Victorian
Plumbing, commented:
"I am delighted to announce the
acquisition of Victoria Plum, a well-established brand with a solid
base of customers, suppliers and product ranges. The acquisition
aligns with our ambitions to accelerate our growth. We are pleased
to welcome the existing Victoria Plum team to our group and look
forward to continuing to provide customers with a fantastic range
of bathroom products and accessories.
"This acquisition represents another
exciting strategic milestone for the company and, together with the
investment in our new distribution centre, provides a unique
opportunity to deliver increased shareholder return."
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1)
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The Acquisition constitutes a
substantial transaction under the Rule 12 of the AIM Rules for
Companies. For the six months ended 31 March 2024, unaudited
management accounts indicate that Victoria Plum had book value
gross assets of £15.8m and losses of £3.3m.
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The person responsible for arranging
the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company is Daniel
Barton, Chief Financial Officer
-ENDS-
For
further information, please contact:
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Victorian Plumbing Group plc
Mark Radcliffe, Chief Executive
Officer
Daniel Barton, Chief Financial
Officer
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via FTI
Consulting
+44 20 3727
1000
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FTI
Consulting (Financial PR)
Alex Beagley, Harriet Jackson, Amy
Goldup
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+44 20 3727
1000
VictorianPlumbing@fticonsulting.com
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Houlihan Lokey Advisory Ltd (Nominated
Adviser)
Sam Fuller, Tim
Richardson
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+44 20 7839
3355
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Barclays Bank PLC (Joint Broker)
Nicola Tennent, Stuart
Muress
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+44 20 7623
2323
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Deutsche Numis (Joint Broker)
Luke Bordewich, Oliver
Steele
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+44 20 7260
1000
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About Victorian Plumbing (prior to the
Acquisition)
Victorian Plumbing is the UK's
leading bathroom retailer, offering a wide range of over 34,000
products to B2C and trade customers. Victorian Plumbing offers its
customers a one-stop shop solution for the entire bathroom with
more than 130 own and third party brands across a wide spectrum of
price points.
Victorian Plumbing's product design
and supply chain strengths are complemented by its creative and
brand-focused marketing strategy to drive significant and growing
traffic to its website.
Headquartered in Skelmersdale,
Victorian Plumbing employs over 600 staff across nine locations in
Lancashire, Manchester and Birmingham.
