Carpet company makes £86m European acquisition
Victoria has continued its “transformation into a genuinely international flooring business” with the £86m purchase of Spanish tile manufacturer Cerámica Saloni.
The deal follows a £10m investment last year by Victoria acquiring two companies in Holland, Avalon and GrassInc, that produce artificial grass.
More than 65% of Victoria’s revenues will come from international sales once the agreement to buy Cerámica Saloni (Saloni) from Obinesa Grupo Industrial is completed.
Kidderminster-based Victoria, which has a major manufacturing site near Bradford, will raise £60.5m in a share placing to help fund the deal.
Geoff Wilding, chairman of Victoria, said: “We believe that Saloni is a high-quality addition to the group. Notwithstanding its strong organic growth prospects, there are meaningful operational synergies with our existing Spanish ceramics company, which we will move quickly to realise.
“Even before these synergies, the acquisition of Saloni will be materially earnings accretive in the first full year of ownership and it also continues to increase the geographic diversity of our revenues and earnings.”
Saloni is a manufacturer of mid to high-end ceramic & porcelain tiles, with its main markets in Spain and France.
The acquisition is expected to be materially accretive to earnings per share for Victoria shareholders in the first full year of ownership.
For the year ended December 2017, Saloni generated audited net revenues of £94.7m and adjusted EBITDA of £13.9m, and for the 12 months ended May 31 2018, Saloni generated unaudited adjusted EBITDA of £15.9m.
