Acquisition

16 Mar 2007 07:02

The Mission Marketing Group PLC16 March 2007 16th March 2007 The Mission Marketing Group plc ("themission") or (the "Company") Acquisition of April-Six Second major acquisition this week adds IT sector expertise themission(R), the national marketing communications and advertising group,announced today that it has acquired April-Six Limited ("April-Six"), a leadingmarketing agency specialising in the global IT sector. This is the second majoracquisition that the Company has completed in the past 72 hours and isconsistent with its strategy of making selective acquisitions with strongpositions in dynamic growth sectors. April-Six provides consultancy, marketing and communications services to some ofthe world's largest software, OEM, reseller and telecoms companies, creatingmarketing communications programmes for professional (B2B) audiences across UK,EMEA and global markets. themission(R) has acquired the entire issued share capital of April-Six for aninitial consideration of £9.55m consisting of initial cash consideration of£5.73m and the issue of 2,946,751 shares in the Company issued at 129.58 penceper share. A further potential payment of up to a maximum £9.45m is due in 2010,subject to April-Six meeting challenging performance criteria based on its pretax profit performance over three years. This final payment is payable in cashor up to 50% in shares, at the Company's option. The total consideration forApril-Six is capped at £19.0m. The April-Six shareholders will be paidadditional cash consideration equal to the amount by which the acquired netassets at completion exceed £0.6m. The financing has been provided through aflexible funding package provided by The Royal Bank of Scotland ("RBS"). April-Six audited accounts for seven months ended 31 December 2006 recordedprofit before interest and tax of £0.69m on turnover of £3.05m. As at 31December 2006 April-Six had audited total net assets of £1.36m. April Six willbenefit from being part of themission(R)'s enlarged network and as a result theacquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full year ofownership. April-Six was established by founding partners Steve Crowther and Fiona Shepherdin 2000 and currently employs 54 staff who will all join themission(R).April-Six provides specialist marketing consultancy, integrated marketingcommunications, digital, technical and other services for its clients. Theseclients include some of the world's leading IT sector players and in servicingthese global clients, the company benefits from its GMT time zone location,operating from offices near Harefield, Middlesex. With the support of themission(R) the company is well placed to expand itsoffering through collaboration with other Group agencies specialising in areassuch as Learning and Events. The additional scale provided by themission(R) alsohelps underpin April-Six's expansion into ever larger assignments. Iain Ferguson, Chief Executive of themission(R), said: "April-Six is one of the UK's leading specialist IT sector agencies. The agencyhas established an international reputation and proven track record fordelivering creative and highly effective business marketing programmes acrosscultures, at speed and on budget. Their can-do philosophy, their strong 'get itright' culture, and their great commercial performance has helped them buildlong-term, blue chip client relationships. "IT is another one of the sector winners we have identified which have superstrong fundamentals, significant potential for growth and offer scope forlayering new services. "Following the announcement on Wednesday this week of the acquisition of BDW andas demonstrated by the acquisition last year of Bray Leino, themission(R)'sstrategy of growth through selective acquisitions brings benefits to our clientsand their business. The benefits of our acquisition of Bray Leino in April 2006are already clearly evident and further reinforce our confidence in our strategyto build a leading national marketing communications group." Fiona Shepherd, Managing Partner of April-Six, said: "Being part of this young, energetic yet experienced group will give us a newplatform for building our global offering. "Joining with themission(R) provides us with an ideal partner to help us developour business even further, and to offer additional services to those of ourclients who have other specialist needs. "Our clients can be assured that the service and performance they expect fromApril-Six will continue. One of our primary concerns was to join a group thatencouraged the continuation and further development of our own culture andclient-service mindset." The Company will make application for the 2,946,751 new ordinary shares to beissued to be admitted to trading on AIM, and their admission to AIM is expectedto take effect on 21st March 2007. Results International advised April-Six on the transaction. Enquiries: Iain Ferguson, Chief Executive 020 7395 7575Tim Alderson, Chief Financial OfficerThe Mission Marketing Group plc Charles Palmer/Nicola Biles 020 7831 3113Financial Dynamics Mark Percy/ Jeremy Porter 020 7107 8000Seymour Pierce Websites: www.themission.co.uk www.april-six.com themission(R) is a national marketing communications and advertising group with9 offices across the UK. The Group specialises in providing national andinternational clients with award winning marketing, advertising and businesscommunications. Group members include BDW, Bray Leino, Big Communications, andFuse Digital. themission(R) employs over 350 staff nationally and is listed onAIM (TMMG). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange