Card Factory Regulatory News (CARD)

4 February 2015

Card Factory plc ("Card Factory" or the "Company")

Directorate Change and termination of Relationship Agreement

Card Factory plc (the "Company"), the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, gifts and dressings, announces the resignation of Graeme Coulthard as a Non-Executive Director of the Company with effect from 3 February 2015. 

Graeme, a Partner of Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP, became a Non-Executive Director in 2010 when Charterhouse acquired the business. Graeme's resignation follows the sale by Charterhouse Capital Partners LLP, through its funds, CCP IX LP No.1, CCP IX LP No.2, CCP IX Co-Investment LP (together, the "Charterhouse Funds"), of a further 40,000,000 Ordinary Shares, representing 11.74 per cent. of the total number of voting rights in the Company on 30 January 2015.

The Charterhouse Funds now hold Ordinary Shares representing, in aggregate, 17.79 per cent of the total voting rights in the Company. Accordingly, the Relationship Agreement, entered into by the Charterhouse Funds and the Company pursuant to LR 6.1.4BR(1), has automatically terminated under its terms. Under the terms of the Relationship Agreement, the Charterhouse Funds were obliged to procure Graeme's resignation as a Director of the Company when their interest falls below 20 per cent. of the Company's total voting rights.

Geoff Cooper, Card Factory's Chairman, said:

"Graeme has been a highly supportive ‎and effective Non-Executive Director, both during the important period of Charterhouse's ownership of the business, and during its early months as a quoted company. On behalf of the Board, I thank him for all he has done and we wish him well."

Graeme Coulthard said:

"It has been a pleasure to have worked with the talented and dedicated management team at Card Factory over the past five years. Charterhouse prides itself on backing strong management teams and Card Factory is a great example of how this strategy works. Since our initial investment in Card Factory, the company has added an online presence and developed a first class printing facility. It has also opened over 280 stores in the UK and created over 3000 new jobs.

"I am confident that the group will continue to grow and generate returns for its stakeholders. I would like to wish all of the management and staff further success in the future."

The Ordinary Shares referred to above are the ordinary shares of £0.01 penceeach in Card Factory plc.

ENDS

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Background information

Card Factory is the UK's leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, gifts and dressings. It focuses on the value and mid-market segments of the UK's large, resilient and growing greeting cards market, and also offers a wide range of other quality products, including small gifts and gift dressings, at affordable prices. Card Factory principally operates through its nationwide chain of over 750 Card Factory stores, as well as through its online offerings: www.gettingpersonal.co.uk (which sells personalised cards and gifts) and www.cardfactory.eu.com (which sells a selection of the products available in Card Factory stores).

Card Factory commenced operations in 1997 with just one store and has expanded its store estate primarily through organic growth into a market-leading value retailer with a nationwide presence. The Group's stores are in a wide range of locations including on high streets in small towns through to major cities, shopping centre developments, out-of-town retail parks and factory outlet centres.

Over the last 10 years, Card Factory has developed a vertically integrated business model with an in-house design team, an in-house printing facility and central warehousing capacity of over 360,000 sq. ft. This model differentiates the Group from its competitors by significantly reducing external costs and adding value to customers in terms of both price and quality, underpinning the Group's motto: "compare the quality, compare the price".

Card Factory sold over 285 million single cards in the financial year ended 31 January 2014. In that year, the Group achieved revenue growth of 9.0% to £326.9 million and underlying EBITDA growth of 9.2% to £80.4 million (2013: £73.6 million) at a margin of 24.6%.