4th May 2006 07:25
Inchcape PLC04 May 2006 4 May 2006 ACQUISITION OF LIND AUTOMOTIVE GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED MAJOR EXPANSION IN INCHCAPE'S UK RETAIL BUSINESS Inchcape plc ('Inchcape' or the 'Group'), the international automotive retailgroup, today announces that it has agreed to acquire Lind Automotive GroupHoldings Limited ('Lind') and selected properties held outside Lind from G. M.Dacre and Attly Investments Inc. Lind is one of the largest independent automotive retailers in the UK withtwenty-one retail centres representing BMW, MINI, Volkswagen, Audi, Honda, LandRover and Mitsubishi in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent. This sizeable acquisition enhances our geographic coverage in the South and Eastof England and further develops our existing partnerships with BMW, MINI,Volkswagen and Land Rover. Following the acquisition Inchcape will operate the largest number of BMW andMINI retail centres in the UK. The acquisition also renews our partnership inthe UK with Audi and establishes an important new partnership with Honda. Bothare brands that have demonstrated strong market share growth over the last tenyears. The acquisition of Lind follows an excellent performance from Inchcape Retail in2005 where operating profits grew by 41.9%. The Inchcape Retail management teamhave a strong track record in driving synergies and performance improvementsfrom recent acquisitions. The acquisition of 100.0% of the equity of Lind is for a cash consideration of£71.4m, plus the assumption of debt of £12.7m, together with a cashconsideration of £24.5m for selected properties held outside Lind. The value ofthe gross assets acquired is £108.6m. These are subject to the finalisation ofcompletion accounts. Turnover for the business acquired for the year ended 31 December 2005 was£395.6m. The operating profit was £7.1m1. Completion of this acquisition is subject to certain regulatory approvalsincluding the European Commission under the EC Merger Regulation. Andre Lacroix, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, said: "The purchase of Lind is an excellent strategic acquisition for Inchcape. Itincreases the scale of our UK retail activity both geographically and in termsof brand partners, bringing UK Retail revenues close to £2bn. Through Lind, wewill further develop our partnerships with BMW, MINI, Volkswagen, Land Rover,renew our relationship with Audi in the UK, and will create our firstpartnership with Honda. I am confident that our strong management willsuccessfully leverage the synergies and performance improvement opportunitiesfrom this acquisition." Note 1 - Operating profit for the business for the year ended 31 December 2005is after adjusting for £0.7m of property rental payments on properties heldoutside Lind, but which are included in the transaction. It is before stockholding interest of £1.9m. For further information, please contact: Group Communications, Inchcape plc 020 7546 0022 Hogarth Partnership Limited (John Olsen/Barnaby Fry) 020 7357 9477 Notes to editors Inchcape plc Inchcape is a scale automotive retail group operating in Australia, Belgium,Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. The Group also has operations in anumber of other global markets. In addition to growing our core businesses, weare looking to develop scale operations in new and emerging regions. Werepresent leading automotive brands and operate either a retail, or a verticallyintegrated retail model (i.e. exclusive distribution and retail), depending onthe market. Our current key manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW,the Premier Automotive Group of Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen. For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com. Lind Lind's portfolio of retail centres is as follows: Brand partner No. of sites Locations BMW 5 Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich, Maidstone MINI 3 Colchester, Ipswich, Norwich Volkswagen 4 Chelmsford, Colchester, Harold Wood, Southend on Sea Audi 4 Canterbury, Crawley, Maidstone, Tonbridge Honda 3 Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend Land Rover 1 Ipswich Mitsubishi 1 Colchester This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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