24th Nov 2015 07:00
Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group plc
("SSW" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Second French Satellite Broadband Provider
Fourth Acquisition since admission to AIM in May 2015
Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group plc (AIM:SAT), the global communications company specialising in rural and last-mile satellite broadband, has acquired the customers and related assets of Vertical Connect, a large provider of satellite broadband services in France with over 3,500 residential and business customers, for a total cash consideration of €1,072,500.
As a result of this acquisition, the fourth since the Company's admission to AIM in May 2015, the Company will have a total of approximately 24,000 customers, and will have demonstrated significant progress in its stated strategy of consolidating the European satellite broadband market.
Vertical Connect's customers and assets, along with seven staff, will move into a new SSW Group Company called Europasat France along with other French acquisitions and existing organic customers in France.
Following this acquisition, SSW is now the second largest satellite broadband provider in France with over 10,000 subscribers, and is well positioned to target an addressable market of nearly one million homes in France, equating to 3% of French households, which have less than 2 Mbps broadband coverage*.
The broadband market in France is extremely attractive to SSW as the Government is incentivising the roll-out of satellite broadband by offering subsidies across many areas via its "subvention" scheme with a stated commitment to enable 150,000 broadband subscribers on satellite by the end of 2018.
The €1,072,500 cash consideration for Vertical Connect's customer base and assets, which is in line with the Company's targeted acquisition price per customer, will be satisfied from the Company's existing cash resources. The Company is confident that the customer base will deliver revenue and margins in line with the Company's existing customer base in France.
The Company is pleased with its organic and acquisition progress since its admission to AIM and expects to deliver growth and financial results in-line with market expectations for the year ending 30 November 2015.
CEO Andrew Walwyn commented:
"This is our fourth acquisition in a key European market since our admission to AIM in May 2015 and takes our subscriber base to approximately 24,000 customers, over double since admission. Following our recent acquisition of Sat2Way in France, we are confident we will see good operational efficiencies and be able to accelerate sales growth in France."
*Source: Point Topic data.
Enquiries:
Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group PLC | www.satellitesolutionsworldwide.com |
Andrew Walwyn, Chief Executive Officer | Via Walbrook PR |
Strand Hanson (Financial & Nominated Adviser) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494 |
Andrew Emmott / Ritchie Balmer
| |
Arden Partners plc (Broker) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7614 5900 |
Catherine Miles / James Felix / Ciaran Walsh
| |
Walbrook PR (PR advisers) | Tel: +44 (0)20 7933 8790 |
Paul Cornelius / Nick Rome |
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