Fenner PLC Regulatory News (FENR)

02 February 2015

Fenner PLC ("Fenner")

Acquisition of Charter Medical Limited ("Charter")

Fenner is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary Fenner Drives, Inc. has acquired 100% of the share capital of Charter from its parent company Lydall, Inc. a publicly traded company (NYSE: LDL) headquartered in Connecticut. Charter will be integrated into Solesis Medical Technologies ("Solesis"), part of Fenner's AEP division.

The consideration of US$29.9m was satisfied in cash at completion and the transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing immediately upon acquisition.

Charter manufactures specialty single-use assemblies and Class I and Class II medical devices for the collection, processing, storage and filtration of biological and bioprocessing fluids. Charter also produces bio-containers and fluid management sets that serve a range of life science applications including biopharmaceutical manufacturing, cell therapy and cryogenic storage. Charter is a single site company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

As at 31 December 2014, unaudited gross assets acquired were US$6.9m with underlying EBITDA (1) of US$3.3m for the 12 months to 31 December 2014 on sales of US$19.6m. 

The entire workforce of Charter have become employees of Fenner upon completion and will continue to be led by General Manager, Mr. Gael Peron.

Nick Hobson, CEO of Fenner PLC, commented:

"In common with all businesses in our AEP division, Charter applies its polymer technology to solving problems in performance-critical applications. Charter has a strong, established business in blood transfusion and filtration markets and has exciting opportunities in the bio-processing and regenerative medicine markets, in which Fenner is already active and which are experiencing rapid growth. 

The acquisition of Charter, which will provide an attractive addition to the capabilities and offerings of Solesis, continues Fenner's strategy to develop our medical business both organically and by acquisition."

For further information please contact:

Fenner PLC 01482 626501

Nick Hobson, Chief Executive

John Pratt, Finance Director

Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700

Nick Oborne / Tom Jenkins

(1) Adjusted for historic non-recurring items

Notes to editors:

Fenner PLC is a world leader in reinforced polymer technology, providing local engineered solutions for performance-critical applications. The Group operates through two divisions:

Engineered Conveyor Solutions: the ECS division, trading under the Fenner Dunlop, Fenner and Dunlop brand names, is a recognised leader in the global conveying market. The division offers a unique, comprehensive suite of products and services, which serve the conveying needs of mining, power generation and bulk handling markets.

Advanced Engineered Products: the AEP division uses advanced polymeric materials and technical expertise to provide high value-added solutions to customers' most challenging engineering problems. Customers are spread across a variety of end-user segments, including oil & gas and medical which account for some 40 per cent of divisional revenue, together with construction, transportation, automation and general industrial. AEP's trading names are recognised globally and include CDI Energy Products, EGC Critical Components, Hallite, AIP Precision Machining, Fenner Precision, Fenner Drives, James Dawson, Mandals, Secant Medical and Xeridiem.