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15 May 2009 07:00
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15 May 2009
RMΒ acquiresΒ specialist educationΒ solutions businessΒ Isis Concepts
RMΒ announces the acquisition ofΒ specialist educationΒ solutionsΒ business Isis ConceptsΒ for a total netΒ cashΒ cost of up to Β£2.69m.Β Isis ConceptsΒ designs and installs innovative learning spacesΒ for individual education establishments andΒ for BSFΒ (Building Schools for the Future)Β projects.
Isis Concepts is a well-established supplier of specialist educationΒ interiors.Β ItΒ createsΒ flexibleΒ learning spaces, built around its own innovative, purpose-designedΒ furniture. Isis Concepts brings with it significant intellectual property, both inΒ uniqueΒ furniture designs and through in-depth knowledge of creating inspiring learning spaces.Β RM already sells a range ofΒ IsisΒ Concepts'Β innovative education furniture and the two companies have worked jointly on a number of projects.
RM will acquireΒ Pars Commercial HoldingsΒ Ltd, the holding company which owns Isis Concepts. Pars Commercial Holdings'Β revenues in the year to December 2008 were Β£3.6m, with profit beforeΒ interestΒ and tax of Β£380k. RM will pay an initial consideration of Β£1.14m in cash on completion, a deferred consideration of Β£0.97m after one year, and up to Β£0.58mΒ over the following two years subject to the achievement ofΒ ambitious growthΒ targets.
Following the acquisition, Isis Concepts will be managed as part of the Group's RM Education Resources division.Β TheΒ current management team will remain with the business, andΒ founderΒ and Managing Director, Nick Topliss has agreed to remain with RM for a minimum of three yearsΒ toΒ continue to drive the growth of the business.
Terry Sweeney,Β Chief ExecutiveΒ of RM, said:
"We'veΒ beenΒ working withΒ IsisΒ Concepts for the last year, they're an innovative and growing company, with good relationships withΒ BSFΒ architects and constructors. As part of the Group,Β IsisΒ will bothΒ broaden our RM Education Resources product range andΒ help us expand what we offer to BSF projects.
"IsisΒ is great business, withΒ excellentΒ products and ideasΒ that really help schools build inspiring educational spaces. They'll make a real contribution to our vision ofΒ helping teachers to teach and learners to learn."
Nick Topliss, Founder of Isis Concepts, said:
"I'm delighted thatΒ IsisΒ Concepts is becoming part of the RM Group. RM shares our commitment to delivering the very best educational solutions and can provide us with the opportunity to take our ideas to more schools.Β
"We collaborated with RM on the ground-breakingΒ Future LearningΒ Spaces display at the BETT show in January 2009 and, between us, we demonstrated that bringing together technology and furniture, with a clear educational vision, makes for an inspiring learning environment. Since then, we've jointly worked with a number of customers making that concept a reality."Β
For further information, please contact:Β
|
Mike Greig/Phil Hemmings, RM plc |
07768 353835 |
|
Chris Blundell/Franziska Boehnke, Brunswick |
020 7404 5959 |
Notes:
The RM Group is a leading provider of educationalΒ solutions that help teachers to teach and learners to learn.Β RM works closely with educationalists to create new products, processes and technology which improveΒ education.Β RM is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol RM.L, ISIN GB0002870417.Β Further details are available at ww.rm.com/investorsΒ and throughΒ the Group's investor blog at rminvestors.wordpress.com
Isis ConceptsΒ employs 32 people and is based in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire.Β It was founded in 1999 by current owner and Managing Director, Nick Topliss, as a specialist education furniture supplier. Isis Concepts focuses on the original design of innovative furniture solutions specifically designed for the education market, with manufacturing outsourced to a range of partners. All of Isis Concepts'Β educationalΒ furniture complies with BS EN 1729, the European standard for educational furniture.
The Future Learning Spaces display at BETT 2009 brought together leading-edge technology and innovative design to demonstrate how schools could look and work in the 21stΒ Century. RM has recently launched the REALΒ (Rethinking Education andΒ Learning)Β centre at its Abingdon headquarters. The REAL Centre isΒ a permanent space,Β showing the very latest thinking about school environments, and including a range of Isis Concepts products.
The BESA Resources Survey 2009 (an independent survey of English schools published by the BritishΒ Education Suppliers Association) estimates that schools spent Β£99mΒ from local budgetsΒ on furniture in GY2007/08.Β Furniture, fixtures and equipment (FFE) spend associated with centrally-funded school build programmes such as BSF is additional to this. Guidance provided by Partnerships for Schools (the agency responsible for the delivery of the BSF programme) states that local authorities should allocate Β£1,000 per pupil for furniture, fixtures and equipment in new-build BSF schoolsΒ (equivalent to Β£1m for a typical 1,000 pupil school).
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