Design Group Regulatory News (IGR)

26 Jan 2005 11:35

International Greetings PLC26 January 2005 International Greetings purchases business of Napier Industries International Greetings plc ("International Greetings"), the leading designerand manufacturer of private label greetings products and licensed stationery,announced today that it has agreed to acquire, from the receivers of NapierIndustries Limited ("Napier"), the business, goodwill, stock and debtors ofNapier. Napier manufactures the well known "Tom Smith" brand of Christmas crackers, andalso supplies many of the UK's supermarket groups with own label products. The consideration for the acquisition is approximately £4.8 million, payable incash, and is being satisfied from International Greetings' own resources.Unaudited management accounts of Napier for the eleven months to 30 November2004 show turnover of £13.0m and an operating profit of £1.2m. The book value ofthe assets now being acquired is approximately £3.7m. International Greetings believe that the acquired business will be an excellentfit with its own cracker operations, which were recently expanded with theacquisition of Krakajack. Due to the seasonality of the business, it isanticipated that Napier will make a small loss from the date of acquisition to31 March 2005, but will make a positive contribution to profits in future years. Commenting on the acquisition Nick Fisher, joint chief executive ofInternational Greetings, said: "This deal met all our acquisition criteria, enhances our business in thisspecific area and reinforces our position as the key consolidator within ourindustry." For further information, please contact: Tavistock Communications 020 7920 3150Richard Sunderland Arden Partners Limited 0121 423 8960Graeme Cull EndJanuary 26th, 2005 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange