3 May 2004
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The Board of Erinaceous Group plc (“Erinaceous”), the one-stop shop property services group operating in the public and private sectors, announces the acquisition of ISG Occupancy Limited (“ISGO”), a division of Interior Services Group plc (“ISG”), an AIM listed company.
ISGO was established in November 1998 to provide a range of property services in respect of commercial properties and is currently organised into four divisions: property management, facilities services, facilities management and workplace advisory services. ISGO is highly complementary to Erinaceous’ existing property services division but is focused on commercial property rather than residential property. In the six months to 31 December 2003 ISGO reported turnover of over £13 million and made a modest operating profit. In the year to 31 March 2003, Erinaceous’ property services division achieved an operating profit of £2.5 million before central group overheads on turnover of £17.5 million.
The ISGO businesses employ some 1,460 people, of whom some 200 are permanent staff and the balance are site staff relating to specific facilities services contracts. ISGO currently operates from premises in London, Manchester, Bradford and Bristol. ISGO’s existing high quality and diverse client base is almost exclusively commercial with no one client accounting for over ten per cent of turnover.
Erinaceous will pay consideration to ISG of £10 million for ISGO over a period of three years with £2 million of cash paid on completion, a further £1.4 million in August 2004 and the balance of £6.6 million in three deferred payments of £2.2 million on the first, second and third anniversaries of the completion of the deal. Erinaceous has the option to allot up to half of each deferred payment in new Erinaceous ordinary shares.
ISGO is being acquired free of debt and with net assets, excluding goodwill, of over £3.5 million including two investments: a 12 per cent stake in Stonemartin plc, the AIM listed support services company, and an investment in a specialist property fund. Together, these investments have a current value of over £1.5 million.
Commenting on the acquisition, Neil Bellis, Chief Executive of Erinaceous, said, “This is an excellent opportunity for us to acquire a complementary business which will increase our exposure to both the commercial sector and facilities services outsourcing. It will also enable us to pursue increased cross-selling opportunities across the group. There is, we believe, scope for significant commercial benefits from integrating the business and, in addition, ISGO’s locations will allow us to begin to expand the Group’s service offering outside the south east of England.”
Enquiries:| Neil Bellis, Chief Executive | Jeremy Carey/Marylène Guernier |
| Erinaceous Group plc | Tavistock Communications |
| Tel: 0870 703 9898 | Tel: 020 7920 3150 |
