Nichols plc Regulatory News (NICL)

21 Jan 2005 07:00

Nichols PLC21 January 2005 Date: Embargoed until 07.00 hrs Friday, 21 January 2005 Contacts: John Nichols, Executive Chairman Brendan Hynes, Group Finance Director Nichols plc Telephone: 01925 222222 Website: www.nicholsplc.co.uk Alistair Mackinnon-Musson Philip Dennis Hudson Sandler Telephone: 020 7796 4133 Email: nichols@hspr.co.uk Photographs available: On request from Hudson Sandler, as above NICHOLS PLC ("Nichols") Acquisition of Panda Soft Drink Brand Nichols plc, the soft drinks group, announces the purchase of leading children'ssoft drink brand Panda, from Dorset based brewer, Hall & Woodhouse Limited. Following the disposal of its food manufacturing business and related propertyin November 2004 for £11.63 million in cash, Nichols now has two principaloperations: 1) Soft Drinks (primarily involved in the sale of soft drinks, including Vimto, throughout the world and Sunkist in the UK) and 2) Beverage Systems (including Cabana, soft drinks on draught and Balmoral supplier of hot beverage systems) Panda is a market leading and popular range of still and sparkling soft drinksaimed primarily at the children's market, with annual sales of circa £11.5million. The acquisition also includes the 'Popzone' branded concept ofretailing Panda products through supermarkets such as Asda - where consumersmake their selection on a 'pick and mix' basis, in store. Visuals and furtherdetails of Panda and Popzone are available at: www.pandapops.com The addition of the Panda brand will significantly enhance the Nichols SoftDrinks portfolio, which had sales in the year to 31 December 2003 of £27.5million. The consideration paid by Nichols for Panda was £5.5 million in cash and theassets acquired are the registered trademarks, domain names and otherintellectual property associated with the Panda brand and Popzone concept. The Panda brand was accounted for within Hall & Woodhouse's overall accounts andas a result there is no separately available profit information for the branditself. Commenting John Nichols, Chairman, said: "This is exciting news for the group and our Soft Drinks Operation inparticular. Panda is a strong brand orientated towards children that willsignificantly enhance our portfolio. Following the recent sale of NicholsFoods, it confirms our intention to continue to grow our core soft drinksbusiness". "We already have a number of exciting marketing initiatives and new productdevelopments planned for the Panda range to ensure its continuing growth in thecoming months". - ENDS - This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange