Hummingbird Resources Regulatory News (HUM)

16 Feb 2007 07:01

Humberts Group PLC16 February 2007 Embargoed until 7am, Friday 16 February 2007 Humberts Group plc ("Humberts" or "the Group") Acquisition of six Humberts franchised offices in the East Midlands Humberts (HUM.L), the highly acquisitive national group of full service estateagents and valuers, announces that it has strengthened its position in the EastMidlands with the acquisition of the entire share capital of Humberts (EastMidlands) Ltd. Humberts (East Midlands) Ltd currently operates as a Humberts franchise and itsacquisition will contribute further revenues to the Group's residential,commercial and rural divisions. It has six offices located in Grantham, Lincoln,Newark, Nottingham, Melton Mowbray and Stamford. The total consideration for the acquisition will be up to £2.75 million, payableas to £1.1 million in cash, paid on completion, with the remainder to besatisfied through the issue of 578,034 new ordinary shares in Humberts at aprice of 86.5p per share (the share price on the date of the formal agreementbetween the parties) and a deferred consideration payable in loan notes and cashof between £750,000 and £1.16 million which will fall due over the next threeyears, conditional (inter alia) on the financial performance of the business.Accordingly, application has been made for these 578,034 new ordinary shares tobe admitted to trading on AIM. Humberts (East Midlands) Ltd comprises the merger of three separate businessesunder broadly common ownership. These three businesses on a pro forma basis hadconsolidated net assets of £340,000 as at 31 December 2006 and generated pre-taxprofit, as per the management accounts, of £544,000 for the year to 31 December2006. Max Ziff, Chief Executive Officer of Humberts, commented. "Humberts is abusiness which is committed to growth both organically and through acquisition.We are therefore delighted to welcome the Humberts East Midlands team formallyinto the Group. The East Midlands is an important market for us and this basewill allow us to build on the strength of the brand both in the region and inour continued expansion across the country." Tony Snarey, Chairman, Humberts East Midlands Ltd, added: "Having been part ofHumberts for many years, we have watched the recent dramatic development of theHumberts' brand and are delighted to be part of its continued growth nationwide.We see great opportunities for our directors and staff to progress their careersand expand on our existing agricultural, commercial and residential business." Humberts Group plc:Max Ziff, chief executive officer: 020 7318 1273Tony Snarey, chairman, Humberts East Midlands Ltd: 07802 847 734 Tavistock Communications: 020 7920 3150Richard SunderlandRachel Drysdalerdrysdale@tavistock.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange