28 May 2010 07:00
28 May 2010
SPIRITEL PLC
("SpiriTel" or "the Group")
Acquisition of Housing Communications Limited
SpiriTel plc, (AIM: STP), the business communications service provider, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Housing Communications Limited ("HCL" or "the Company"), for a total consideration of £2.1 million, of which £1.6 million is payable in cash on completion and the remainder comprising the settlement of directors' loans from cash within the business. Consequently, after completion it is expected that the Company will hold cash balances of £0.15 million. The acquisition is SpiriTel's twelfth since 2006 and follows on from the Group's recent acquisitions in Wales and Scotland, which have substantially expanded the Group's geographical footprint.
HCL is a mobile voice and data reseller based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. The Company was established in 1998 and has an exclusive contract with the largest procurement agency targeting Housing Associations. HCL has approximately 100 customers overall, with over 17,000 mobile connections. To date the company has concentrated on selling only mobile solutions, and as such the Company's customer base represents a significant cross selling opportunity for SpiriTel's 'Complete Business Communications' offering.
In the year ended 30 September 2009, HCL achieved revenues of £2.9m and profit before tax of £463,000. Net assets at 31 March 2010 were approximately £nil.
SpiriTel aims to integrate HCL into its Business Division and management anticipates that this tried and tested process will be completed swiftly.
Commenting on the acquisition, Alastair Mills, Chief Executive of SpiriTel said: "HCL fits well with our acquisition strategy, as a large, well established mobile base with high potential for cross selling, particularly to its large Housing Association customers. SpiriTel is now one of the largest independent mobile providers to UK businesses."
He added: "HCL is our twelfth acquisition and our sixth in the last seven months. I am pleased to report that the integration of recent acquisitions has progressed well and is now almost complete. The acquired companies have also performed in line with management expectations and after planned restructuring costs, have delivered strong contributions to earnings."
John Clarke, Managing Director of Housing Communications Limited said: "Over a 12 year period, we have worked hard to establish HCL as the leading provider of mobile solutions to the Housing Association community. As our customers increasingly look for a service provider with the full range of voice and data solutions, SpiriTel is well positioned to capitalise on this exciting opportunity. We are confident that our customers are in good hands"
For further information please visit www.spiritelplc.com or contact:
| SpiriTel plc | Tavistock Communications | FinnCap |
| Alastair Mills | Simon Hudson | Geoff Nash |
| Chief Executive | James Midmer | Marc Young |
| Tel: 020 7160 0100 | Tel: 020 7920 3150 | Tel: 020 7600 1658 |
Notes to Editors
SpiriTel is a business communications group which is taking advantage of the opportunities created by rapidly changing telecoms markets in the UK as the migration to Internet Protocol (IP) based services accelerates. The Group is a consolidator of the highly fragmented UK telecoms reseller market and is building a substantial customer base and scale through selective earnings-enhancing acquisitions. We are organised into two divisions, SpiriTel Technologies - focused on our infrastructure and IP products and services - and SpiriTel Business, which provides our fully integrated range of voice and data services direct to business customers.
Today, the Group offers our 'complete business communications' portfolio to a customer base of small and medium sized enterprises and an increasing number of larger national and international organisations. We are a recognised leader in the provision of new, but proven, Voice over IP (VoIP) solutions that are firmly based on the old-fashioned service values, which run throughout the Group.