LVD.L Regulatory News (LVD)

14 Feb 2006 07:45

Lavendon Group PLC14 February 2006 14 February 2006 Lavendon Group plc ("Lavendon" or "the Group") Acquisition of Panther Work Platforms Limited Lavendon Group plc, Europe's market leader in the rental of powered accessequipment, today announces the acquisition of Panther Work Platforms Limited andits subsidiaries ("Panther"). Panther operates a fleet of 1,300 powered access machines in the UK through anetwork of six depots, employing 90 people. The audited accounts for Panther forthe year ended 30 June 2005 showed turnover of £8.7 million, a profit before taxof £1.6 million, gross assets of £13.1 million and net assets of £2.0 million.The unaudited results for Panther for the 12 months ended 31 December 2005 showturnover of £10.4 million and profit before tax of £2.1 million. The consideration payable on completion is £7.0 million, with £5.0 million beingsatisfied in cash and £2.0 million being satisfied by the issue of 865,800 newordinary shares of 1p each in Lavendon ("Ordinary Shares"). Additionalconsideration of between £0.8 - £3.1 million is payable in cash by Lavendondependent upon Panther's financial performance over the two years ending on 31January 2008. The cash consideration will be funded from the Group's existing bank facilities.As part of the transaction, Lavendon will assume Panther's net debt of £10.3million. The Group has made an application to the UK Listing Authority and the LondonStock Exchange for up to 865,800 Ordinary Shares to trade on the London StockExchange and to be admitted to the Official List upon issuance. The new OrdinaryShares will rank pari-passu with the existing Ordinary Shares. Admission ofthese Ordinary Shares is expected to become effective on Wednesday, 15 February2006. Lavendon's Chief Executive, Kevin Appleton commented "The acquisition of Panthercomplements the Group's existing businesses in the UK, and provides an improvedmarket position in a number of sectors which are experiencing robust growth, andwhere Panther's profile is well established. The existing management team willremain with the business, adding to the Group's operational expertise andfurther strengthening our position as the leading choice for the supply ofpowered access equipment in the UK." Lavendon will announce its results for the year ended 31 December 2005 on 7March 2006. An analyst's presentation will be held at 9.30am in Weber ShandwickSquare Mile's office at Fox Court, 14 Gray's Inn Road London WC1X 8WS. For further information please contact: Lavendon Group plc 01455 206 736Kevin Appleton, Chief ExecutiveAlan Merrell, Finance Director Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700Terry Garrett / Nick Dibden / Yvonne Alexander This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange