Rm Regulatory News (RM.)

9 Aug 2006 07:00

RM PLC09 August 2006 9 August 2006 RM acquires specialist education resources supplier Music Education Supplies RM plc announces that its specialist education resources business, TTS GroupLtd, has acquired Music Education Supplies Ltd (MES) for a consideration of upto £1m. MES is a specialist supplier of a wide range of musical instruments,books and other music education products to primary schools and nurseries. Manyof these products are unique to MES and are highly valued by primary schoolmusic specialists. Following the acquisition, MES will be merged with TTS. TTS already has a strongposition in the primary school resources market, but had not previously offereda music supplies catalogue. The addition of MES allows TTS to extend the rangeof products it offers to its existing customer base. MES' turnover in the year to 31 December 2005 was £1.44m, with profit before taxof £0.14m (not adjusted for normalised Director's remuneration). RM will pay aninitial contribution of £0.8m on completion. Further consideration of up to£0.2m is payable on 31 March 2007, following the integration of MES' businessand subject to certain performance conditions. MES' current Managing Director,Ray Mason, will remain with the business during the integration period. Commenting on the acquisition, Tim Pearson, CEO of RM, said: "TTS has been a successful acquisition for RM, providing us with both businessgrowth and a deeper understanding of the requirements of classroom teachers.Recognising that ICT is becoming increasingly embedded in the day-to-dayactivities of classroom teachers, we have recently brought TTS together with ourlearning software activities to form a broader education resources division. Theacquisition of MES is a further stage in the development of this business." Peter Ellse, Managing Director of TTS, said: "MES is one of a choice number of real specialist businesses in primary schooland nursery supply. They are widely well regarded for their values of highlevels of research, specialist focus and closeness to the teacher and musicspecialist. They make an ideal strategic fit for TTS's vision, and we aim toinvest upon their current achievements to take them to the next level." Ray Mason, Managing Director of MES, said: "TTS shares our commitment to providing teachers with high quality educationalresources that can really make a difference in the classroom - it's a good home,both for our business and our customers. I was also encouraged to see how beingpart of the RM Group has helped TTS retain its existing strengths, whilst alsoproviding a platform for future growth." - Ends - For further information, please contact:Phil Hemmings, RM plc 08709 200200Fiona Laffan/Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959 Notes to Editors: The RM Group is a leading provider of educational products and services toschools, colleges and universities, local government and central governmenteducation departments and agencies. Founded in 1973, RM works closely witheducationalists to use new products, processes and technology to improveteaching and learning and is recognised as a leading innovator in theeducational information and communications technology (ICT) arena. RM acquired TTS in September 2004. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange