Vp Regulatory News (VP.)

7 Nov 2005 07:00

Vp PLC07 November 2005 Press Release 7 November 2005 Vp plc ("Vp" or "the Group") Acquisition of Trax Portable Access Limited (TPA) for £11.5 million Vp plc, the equipment rental specialist, today announces the acquisition of theentire issued share capital of Trax Portable Access Limited, for an initial cashconsideration of £11.5 million. Additional consideration up to a maximum of£7.93 million may be payable dependent upon the financial performance of thecompany in each of the three years commencing 1st January 2006, 2007 and 2008.The management team, who owned a significant minority stake in TPA, will remainwith the business and will continue to be led by Managing Director, DaleRobinson, who has many years' experience in this sector. The consideration willbe payable from Vp's banking facilities and TPA will operate as a separatedivision within Vp. TPA is a leading supplier of portable roadway systems, bridging, fencing andbarriers primarily in the UK, but also in Ireland and mainland Europe. Themarkets served by TPA include the UK and European events market, construction,telecommunications, rail and power transmission. For the year ended 31st December 2004, TPA reported profits before tax of £1.16million on turnover of £6.32 million. Gross and net assets at 31st December2004 were £8.22 million and £1.56 million respectively. With over 80 employees and operating from locations in Worksop and London, TPAhas a strong reputation for product innovation, recognised by the securing ofthe Queen's Award for Innovation in 2005. Jeremy Pilkington, Chairman of Vp plc, commented: "TPA is a well run businessled by a management team we believe are capable of developing the businessfurther. TPA enjoys a strong market position and employs the same core skillsof asset management that are common to all Vp businesses. We believe TPArepresents an ideal sixth business stream to compliment the Group's existingactivities." Dale Robinson, Managing Director of TPA, said: "TPA has built a successfulbusiness with strong customer support and solid foundations for future growth.We look forward to working with Vp to build on TPA's success and take thecompany to its next stage of development." - Ends - For further information please contact: Vp plc Jeremy Pilkington, Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 1423 533 445jeremypilkington@vpplc.com www.vpplc.comNeil Stothard, Group Managing Directorneil.stothard@vpplc.comMike Holt, Group Finance Directormike.holt@vpplc.com AbchurchSarah Hollins / Henry Harrison-Topham Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700sarah.hollins@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Notes to Editors: The principal activity of the Group is equipment rental and associated servicesalmost entirely conducted within the UK. Vp plc listed on the London StockExchange in 1973. For the year ended 31 March 2005, Group turnover was £90.0million. The Group is now focused on six businesses: TPA TPA is a leading supplier of portable roadway systems, bridging, fencing andbarriers primarily to the UK market, but also in Ireland and mainland Europe.For further information, please visit www.tpa-ltd.co.uk Hire Station Tools and specialist products for industry, construction and home owners. Torrent Trackside Infrastructure equipment and services for the railway renewals and maintenanceindustry. Groundforce Excavation support systems and specialist products for the water, civilengineering and construction industries. UK Forks Rough terrain material handling equipment for industry, residential and generalconstruction. Airpac Oilfield Services Equipment and service providers to the international oil and gas exploration anddevelopment markets. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange