DCC Regulatory News (DCC)

20 Jul 2007 07:00

DCC PLC20 July 2007 DCC to acquire another leading oil distribution business in Britain DCC plc, the procurement, sales, marketing, distribution and business supportservices group listed on both the Irish and London stock exchanges, announces that it has reached conditional agreement to acquire CPL Petroleum Limited ("CPL Petroleum"), a leading oil distribution business in Britain, from CPL Industries Holdings Limited, the UK's market leader in solid fuel distribution. The acquisition is subject to inter alia clearance from the UK Office of Fair Trading. CPL Petroleum is a leading supplier of transport fuels and heating oils tocommercial, industrial, domestic and agricultural customers throughout Britain.CPL Petroleum operates from 39 depots with a fleet of 200 road tankers and 481employees. In the twelve months to 31 March 2007 CPL Petroleum sold 831 millionlitres of oil. DCC intends to integrate CPL Petroleum's operations with DCCEnergy's existing oil distribution business in Britain, which in the year to 31March 2007 distributed 1,541 million litres of oil. The acquisition will furtherenhance DCC Energy's position as the leading oil distributor in Britain. The consideration payable for CPL Petroleum, which will be acquired on a cashfree / debt free basis, is €74.2 million (Stg£50 million) adjusted to reflectthe difference between the actual working capital of CPL Petroleum at completionand its average working capital over the twelve months to completion. Theconsideration will be satisfied in cash. It is anticipated that the transactionwill be completed by the end of September 2007. CPL Petroleum's operating profit before group charges, goodwill amortisation andexceptional items for its financial year ended 31 March 2007 was €9.4 million(Stg£6.4 million) on sales of €620 million (Stg£418 million). CPL Petroleum'sgross tangible operating assets at 31 March 2007 were €69.4 million (Stg£46.8million) and its net tangible operating assets were €9.0 million (Stg£6.1million). Jim Flavin, Executive Chairman of DCC plc, said today "The acquisition of CPL Petroleum is a significant step in DCC's stated strategyof doubling the size of its oil business in Britain and builds on theacquisitions of BP's oil business in Scotland in 2001, the business of ShellDirect in England and Wales in 2004, Carlton Fuels in 2006 and a number of othersmaller acquisitions. CPL Petroleum, while operating throughout Britain, has arelatively stronger business in Southern England and will complement DCC'sexisting business, which is relatively stronger in Northern England andScotland." For reference: Jim Flavin, Executive Chairman, DCC plcTommy Breen, Group Managing Director, DCC plcDonal Murphy, Managing Director, DCC EnergyConor Murphy, Investor Relations Manager Telephone: + 353 1 2799400Email: investorrelations@dcc.ieWeb: www.dcc.ie About DCC plc: DCC plc is a procurement, sales, marketing, distribution and business supportservices group headquartered in Dublin with international operations across fourcontinents. DCC has five divisions - DCC Energy, DCC SerCom, DCC Healthcare, DCCFood & Beverage and DCC Environmental. In its latest financial year to 31 March2007, DCC had sales of €4.046 billion, operating profits of €143.0 million andcurrently employs over 6,000 people in 16 countries. DCC's shares are listed onboth the Irish and London stock exchanges under Business Support Services. DCC Energy is the leading oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) sales, marketingand distribution business in Britain and Ireland. In the year ended 31 March2007, DCC sold in excess of 3.2 billion litres of product to approximately375,000 domestic, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers from itsextensive network of 149 depots throughout Britain and Ireland, generatingrevenues of €2.248 billion and operating profits of €60.5 million. DCC Energycurrently employs approximately 2,080 people. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange