Rentokil Initial Regulatory News (RTO)

25 Oct 2006 15:34

Rentokil Initial PLC25 October 2006 25 October 2006 RENTOKIL INITIAL ACQUIRES 16 CITY LINK FRANCHISES Buy back programme ahead of schedule Rentokil Initial plc today announces that City Link has completed theacquisition of a further 16 of its franchises for a total consideration of £25.5million. The franchises were acquired through the purchase of Tiger Haulage,Abbott Enterprises, Hallamgate Enterprises and Greenway Bird Express. The fourbusinesses had a combined turnover of £95 million for the year to completion.Thirty three franchises have been acquired since the buy back programme wasannounced a year ago. The company announced in October 2005 its intention to buy back and integratethe City Link franchises and, following the completion of the four transactions,has spent £50 million on the initiative to date. City Link now owns 80% of thenetwork (57 franchises). There remain a further nine acquisitions (13franchises) to complete the buy back programme. Doug Flynn, Chief Executive of Rentokil Initial plc, commented: "I am pleased with the progress we are making in transforming the City Linkbusiness. These latest deals bring to 33 the number of franchises we have boughtin just 12 months and I look forward to completing the process ahead of schedulein 2007. Directly managing the customer facing elements of our business allowsus both to improve efficiency and our responsiveness to customers." The franchise acquisition programme is part of a wider initiative to transformCity Link into a fully integrated premium parcels delivery service. In the pastsix months, a new customer facing structure has been introduced with thecreation of regional customer centres and the launch of upgraded systems totrack parcels throughout the journey from consignor to consignee. The businesscontinues to win market share, with parcel volume up 10% in the first half of2006 and continued high levels of customer satisfaction. www.city-link.co.uk www.rentokil-initial.com - Ends - For further information, please contact: Rentokil Initial plc, Tel. +44 (0) 20 7866 3000Malcolm Padley, Corporate CommunicationsLisa Williams, Investor Relations Brunswick Group LLP, Tel. +44 (0) 20 7404 5959Kate Holgate and Jon Rhodes This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange