LVD.L Regulatory News (LVD)

22 Feb 2006 07:03

Lavendon Group PLC22 February 2006 22 February 2006 Lavendon Group plc ("Lavendon" or "the Group") Acquisition of Kestrel Powered Access Limited Lavendon Group plc, Europe's market leader in the rental of powered accessequipment, today announces the acquisition of Kestrel Powered Access Limited("Kestrel"). Kestrel operates a fleet of 350 powered access machines in the UK through asingle depot in Bristol, employing 27 people. The audited accounts for Kestrelfor the year ended 31 July 2005 showed turnover of £3.0 million, a profit beforetax of £1.1 million, gross assets of £4.0 million and net assets of £1.6million. The unaudited results for Kestrel for the 12 months ended 31 December2005 show turnover of £3.0 million and profit before tax of £1.0 million. The consideration payable on completion is £4.3 million, satisfied in cash.Additional consideration of between £0.6 - £2.6 million will be payable in cashby Lavendon dependent upon Kestrel's financial performance over the two yearsending on 31 January 2008. The consideration will be funded from the Group's existing bank facilities. Aspart of the transaction, Lavendon will assume Kestrel's net debt of £0.5million. Lavendon's Chief Executive, Kevin Appleton commented " Kestrel has an enviablemarket reputation and presence in the South-West of England, and its acquisitionis an important addition to the Group, complementing both the geographiccoverage and customer profile of Panther Platforms, the Group's earlieracquisition announced last week. The existing management team will remain withthe business, and they will be encouraged to maximise the opportunitiesavailable through having access to a larger rental fleet and depot networkoffered by the Group's other UK operations." 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