Inspired Energy raises £19m towards £19.5m acquisition

Inspired Energy, the Preston-based energy consultant, announced an acquisition, and share placing today.

The firm is to buy Warrington-based Inprova Finance Ltd (IFL) for £19.5m in cash, on a debt-free cash-free basis from Inprova Group, and the board expects the acquisition to be earnings enhancing in financial year 2019 and beyond.

As part of the planned deal, Inspired plans to raise up to £19m by way of a conditional placing of 115,151,516 new ordinary shares at 16.5 pence per share.

Inprova Finance provides energy procurement services to its customers, analysing usage data to recommend the appropriate options on either flexible procurement arrangements or a fixed price basis.

It also provides consultancy services to its customers to enable them to buy energy efficiently and monitor and reduce their carbon footprint.

The company has access to 19,000 meter points through more than 1,000 customers.

It has a strong presence in four sectors which it believes have attractive long-term growth dynamics being: data centres, social housing, education and construction, which the Inspired board believe will further extend the group’s sector specialism.

In the year ended June 30, 2018, IFL generated revenues of £7.8m and EBITDA of £2.9m. Its order book stood at around £11.6m

Mark Dickinson, chief executive of Inspired, said: “We are delighted to have agreed the acquisition of IFL and its group of energy businesses.

“This acquisition provides an opportunity to drive further growth from Inspired’s established platform and deliver value creation, both strategically and operationally, in addition to strengthening the group’s position as a leading TPI (third party intermediary) in the UK and Ireland.

“We look forward to working with the team as we continue to accelerate our next phase of growth.”

Inspired confirmed, early this afternoon, that the share placing was completed successfully.

Mark Dickinson said: “The board is delighted to see the significant support we have received from our existing and new shareholder base.

“We look forward to completing the acquisition of Inprova and taking the company to the next stage of growth.”

The corporate team at Manchester law firm Gateley advised Inspired Energy.

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