(Alliance News) - Escape Hunt PLC on Wednesday said it has agreed to acquire Boom Battle Bars for GBP17.4 million in cash and shares, which will trigger the escape room operator's change of name to XP Factory PLC.
Boom Battle Bars is a leisure business dealing in socialising activities and cocktails and street food, comprising one owner-operated venue and five franchised venues in the UK. The business has a total pipeline of 39 sites including a further 18 sites with outline terms agreed.
Escape Hunt will pay for the acquisition through an initial payment of GBP9.9 million and the issue of 25.0 million shares as a deferred consideration. The deferred consideration is subject to an earn-out and will only be issued if Boom Battle Bars meets certain targets in 2022.
The payment will be funded through a placing of 49.3 million shares which rose GBP14.8 million at a price of 30 pence per share.
In addition, Escape Hunt has raised GBP225,000 through a subscription of 750,000 shares at the issue price. The group plans to hold an open offer to raise GBP2.2 million on the basis of one open offer share for every 12 existing shares held at the placing price.
The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings accretive and profitable in the first half of 2022. The deal is conditional on gaining shareholder approval at a general meeting due to be held on November 22. Also at the meeting, Escape Hunt will propose changing its name to XP Factory PLC, to reflect the group's changing nature.
"We are incredibly excited to be acquiring Boom Battle Bars, which is highly complementary to our existing Escape Hunt business. The acquisition allows us to capitalise on the growth in experiential leisure and competitive socialising, and significantly improves our ability to access the best property locations in a soft commercial property environment. There are material potential benefits from co-location of sites in the same venues, which will enhance our combined site economics, and the businesses enjoy a strong overlap in target customer, offering attractive cross marketing and brand awareness synergies," said Chief Executive Officer Richard Harpham.
Shares in Escape Hunt closed down 2.7% at 36.00 pence on Wednesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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