14th Mar 2005 07:01
Kingspan Group PLC14 March 2005 14 March 2005 Kingspan Group PLC ("Kingspan") announces acquisition of Century Homes ("Century") Kingspan Group is pleased to announce it has entered into an agreement toacquire 100% of Century Homes. The agreement is conditional, inter alia, onreceipt of Competition Authority approval. Century is Ireland's leading manufacturer of timber frame houses, operating fromlocations in Ireland and Britain. The acquisition forms part of Kingspan'songoing drive to increase the scale and breadth of its product offering withinthe off-site construction sector in Britain & Ireland. Total potential gross consideration is €98m, €91m net of expected cash atcompletion, split as follows: • Initial gross consideration payable in cash at completion of €74m. Century is expected to have cash on completion of €7m, giving net consideration of €67m. • A further maximum of €24m may be paid under an earn out arrangement over the next three years depending on Century achieving substantial growth in profits linked to specific targets in each of the years 2005 to 2007 • The initial net consideration represents 6x 2004 EBITDA Century had aggregated revenue of €67.1m, operating profits of €9.6m and EBITDAof €11.2m based on audited accounts for 2004. It is anticipated that thebusiness will record further growth in 2005 complemented by the opening of twoadditional manufacturing sites. Net assets are expected to be €28m atcompletion. As part of the agreement, the senior management team of Century will continuewith the business and work alongside the existing Kingspan management team indeveloping Kingspan's off-site division in the UK and Irish off-siteconstruction market. This acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing from the outset. Theacquisition will be funded in full from existing Kingspan facilities. Gene Murtagh, Kingspan CEO, comments "Century represents one of Ireland's mostentrepreneurial and fastest growing companies. Led by Gerry McCaughey, Centuryhave almost single handedly pioneered Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) inthe Irish, and more recently the UK residential markets. The acquisition, whencombined with Kingspan's existing off-site operations, will vastly enhanceKingspan's capability to become the leading player in the off-site low energyhome construction market in the UK and Ireland. Gerry McCaughey, CEO of CenturyHomes, and the Century team will bring valuable insight and leadership to ourstrategy for this sector. NCB Corporate Finance advised Kingspan on this transaction. An analyst briefing / shareholder conference call is scheduled to take place at11.00am this morning. Please contact Celeste O'Brien at + 353 1 641 9292 orceleste.o'[email protected] to access the conference call details before10.45am. A powerpoint presentation will be available on the Kingspan websitewww.kingspan.com from 9.00am. Note: Century Homes comprises of three companies, Woodroe Limited, Woodroe(Ireland) Limited, Woodroe (UK) Limited and their subsidiaries. For further information contact: Donnchadh O'Neill: Murray Consultants Tel +(353 1) 4980 300Tim Thompson/Jeremy Garcia/Tom Carroll: Buchanan Communications Tel +(44) 207 466 5000 -Ends- This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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