Acquisition Update

8 Dec 2005 10:03

Croma Group PLC08 December 2005 8 DECEMBER 2005 CROMA GROUP PLC ("Croma" or "the Group") CONTRACTS EXCHANGED FOR SECOND OF TWO ACQUISITIONS AND TRADING UPDATE The Board of Croma, the specialists in the design, development and production ofovert and covert surveillance, security and defence related products, is pleasedto announce that following the announcement on 1 December of its final resultsto June 2005, and the exchange of contracts for the first of two acquisitions,the Company has now exchanged conditional contracts for the second of the twoproposed acquisitions. This exchange allows it to adopt further due diligence onthe target company. Initial payment on completion, as with the previous proposed acquisition, willcomprise of a combination of cash and Croma shares at 6.5p or the mid-marketquote at the time of completion, whichever is the highest. The payment will beby way of performance related earn-out. Completion of the acquisition isexpected during January following the completion of the due diligence. The proposed acquisition, which cannot be named due a confidentiality clause, isa specialist company operating in the field of biometric identification andaccess-control solutions. Trading Update Current trading is positive with the period July to October of the current year,showing an increase of 32% for the same period of the previous year. This is aresult of the increased order intake following successful introduction of newproducts and the expansion of the customer base. John French, Chairman & Chief Executive of Croma said:"This proposed acquisitioncomplements the expanding range of products and services offered by the Group tothe overt, covert surveillance and defence related sector. It reaffirms theintention of the Group to consolidate its position in the sector through acombination of core growth and acquisitions." --ENDS-- Enquiries: Croma Group plcJohn French, Chairman & Chief Executive Mobile: 07836 722 482 Bishopsgate Communications Ltd. Tel: 020 7430 1600Maxine BarnesNick Rome This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange