19th Oct 2006 07:01
Huntsworth PLC19 October 2006 HUNTSWORTH PLC 19 October 2006 Acquisition of Mmd Group Huntsworth PLC ("Huntsworth"), the international public relations group,announces today that it has agreed to acquire certain shares and assets of MmdCentral & Eastern Europe Limited and its subsidiaries and Raxton CommunicationsLimited (together "the Mmd Group"), a group of public relations businessesoperating in 18 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. This acquisitionsubstantially extends Huntsworth's reach across all of the major countries inCentral and Eastern Europe, South East Europe, Russia and CIS. Until nowHuntsworth has operated through affiliates and associates in these markets. The Mmd Group is being acquired from Anglo Irish Trust Company Limited. Theexisting management team, under Chairman Alistair McLeish, will continue tooperate the business following the acquisition. The initial consideration will be £12 million, of which £7.2 million is to bepaid in cash and £4.8 million is to be satisfied by the issue of new ordinaryshares. Deferred consideration may be payable, with interim payments to besettled 60% in cash and 40% in new ordinary shares in Huntsworth, based onprofits for the years to 30 June 2007 and 30 June 2008. A final payment may bedue based on the 3 years to 30 June 2009, payable in cash or shares atHuntsworth's option. The maximum total consideration is £35.0 million. For the year ended 30 June 2005, the Mmd group had profit before tax of£2,028,000. The gross assets at 30 June 2005 were £7,023,000. Lord Chadlington, Chief Executive of Huntsworth said: "We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Mmd which builds on our corestrategy. Central and Eastern Europe is an area of tremendous growth andopportunity in public affairs and public relations and a key strategic hub forour global network. Together with our existing 25 offices in mainland Europeand our very strong presence in the UK, this acquisition into Central andEastern Europe extends our existing presence into these fast-growing markets tocreate what we believe is the most comprehensive European network in the PRindustry. Huntsworth and Mmd are already working on a number of clientassignments together. Alistair McLeish, Chairman of Mmd said: "We are delighted to become a part of one of the leading international PRgroups, marrying their global strength and experience with our ownmarket-leading brand across New Europe and the CIS. The potential opportunitiesare vast and it will be an exciting challenge to explore these over the comingyears." Under the terms of the UKLA listing rules the acquisition is a Class 2transaction not requiring shareholder approval. Enquiries: Huntsworth PLC +44 (0)20 7408 2232Lord Chadlington, Chief ExecutiveSally Withey Group Finance Director Mmd Group +41 798 277 353Alistair McLeish, Chairman Notes to Editors: Mmd Group Mmd was formed in 1993 and has seen consistent and significant revenue growthover many years. Mmd's client base includes AES, Deutsche Telekom, DiscoveryNetworks Europe, easyJet, GE, Google, Holcim, IBM, Intel, Mittal Steel, Rosneft,SAP, Telenor and Visa International. Mmd is the leading corporate communications, public affairs and public relationsconsultancy across Central and Eastern Europe, South East Europe, Russia and CISwith over 170 staff in 18 countries and offices in Austria, Bosnia,Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkeyand Ukraine. Mmd provides senior communications counsel to a wide range of international andlocal corporations. The majority of the work involves pan-regional campaigns inthe healthcare and pharmaceutical, technology, business-to-business and consumersectors and includes financial PR and investor relations campaigns, corporatePR, public affairs programmes, and crisis and issues management. Alistair McLeish, Chairman of Mmd, who is also a party to this transaction,opened the first Mmd office in Eastern Europe (Prague) in 1993. He pioneered amatrix management approach in the region by combining internationalcommunications and management expertise and best practice with the best ofindigenous talent and social, political, economic & cultural understanding.Operationally he has led multi-country strategic communication initiativesacross the region for over fifteen years with wide experience of advising onissues and crises, privatisation and foreign direct investment projects. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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