Marlowe Acquires WCS Environmental Group For GBP2.5 Million (ALLISS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Support services company Marlowe PLC on Monday said it has agreed a GBP2.5 million cash and shares deal to acquire WCS Environmental Group Ltd.

Marlowe, which is seeking to acquire critical asset maintenance service providers, said it will pay GBP1.6 million in cash, plus 287,878 shares priced at 165.00 pence per share to acquire WCS. Marlowe shares were up 1.7% to 183.00p.

WCS provides water treatment, hygiene, testing and engineering services to private and public sector clients. The deal marks Marlowe's first acquisition in the water treatment services sector and comes after its previous acquisition of Swift, a fire protection and security systems provider.

"The acquisition of WCS marks the next stage in the development of Marlowe as we implement our strategy of building a leading UK support services group in complementary areas of critical asset maintenance," said Alex Dacre, Marlowe's chief executive.

"With the acquisitions of Swift and WCS, we have now established a presence in our initial target markets of fire protection, security systems and water treatment, which provide significant scope for consolidation," he added.

By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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