DiscoverIE Regulatory News (DSCV)

25 May 2006 09:26

Acal PLC25 May 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 25 MAY 2006 ACAL plc (Leading pan-European, value-added technology based distributor providing specialist design-in, sales and marketing services) Sale of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration business for an initial consideration of £8 million Acal plc ("Acal") announces that it has reached agreement for the sale of itsAir Conditioning and Refrigeration business (the "Business"), which forms partof its Industrial Controls division, to the Parker-Hannifin International CorpGroup ("Parker"). The Business has operations based in the UK, the USA, Franceand Germany. Completion of the sale is conditional upon obtaining certainconsents including, insofar as the operations of the Business in Germany areconcerned, clearance by the relevant competition authorities. The initial consideration for the sale is £8 million payable in cash and thisamount is subject to adjustment dependent upon the net tangible assets of theBusiness at Completion. During the year ended 31 March 2006, the Business had sales of £18.4 million,and made a contribution of £1.3 million (before allocation of central costs) tothe profit before interest and taxation of the Acal Group. At that date it hadnet tangible assets of £2.1 million and gross assets of £6.9 million. It is intended that the proceeds of the sale will initially be applied inreducing the debt of the Acal Group. For further information:- Tony Laughton - Chief Executive 01483 544500 Jim Virdee - Finance Director 01483 544500 Brian Coleman-Smith / Nia Thomas / Allison ReidCubitt Consulting 020 7367 5100 Notes to Editors: 1 The Acal Group is a leading European, value-added technology based distributor providing specialist design-in, sales and marketing, as well as stock planning and procurement services in the fields of Electronic Components, IT Products, IT Parts Services and Industrial Controls. Its value-added philosophy and geographic coverage enables Acal to provide specialist knowledge and support to customers on a pan-European basis. 2 Design-in is the process by which Acal's sales engineers work with customers and suppliers to procure components which meet the specific technical and performance needs of the customers. 3 Acal has operating companies in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the USA. Westech Electronics, an associated company, is based in Singapore and covers the Far East region. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange