Aerosols manufacturer sells liquids division in £12.5m deal
McBride, the manufacturer of personal care, skincare and toiletry products for retailers, has agreed to sell its European personal care liquids business, which includes its operation in Bradford, to Royal Sanders Group for £12.5m.
In its half year results in February, McBride announced plans to launch an accelerated “transformation programme” to return its Personal Care & Aerosols (PCA) division to break even within 18 months.
Last month, the group announced proposals to close it UK aerosols operations at Hull, putting 117 jobs at risk.
“As a result of this action and the absorption of certain volumes into our French aerosols operation, the group expects its ongoing aerosols operation to be at break-even profitability levels by July 2019,” the company said.
As the next step in its restructuring, the group announced today that it has agreed terms with Royal Sanders for the disposal of the its European Personal Care liquids activities, which comprises two manufacturing sites at Bradford and one in Belgium, which supply customers with a range of personal hygiene, haircare and oral care products.
In the 12 months to June 2017 the business generated revenues of £58.8m and an EBITA loss of £1.9m.
Gross assets at 31 December 2017 were £19.8m.
For the 12 months to 30 June 2018, the business is expected to generate revenues of £56.0m and an EBITA loss of £2.8m.
Proceeds of the sale will be used to pay down group net debt and settle transaction costs. The transaction is expected to complete during the last quarter of 2018.
Rik De Vos, group chief executive, said: “The agreement to sell our European Personal Care liquids activities follows a comprehensive review of the business and marks the final element in the transformation plan for our European PCA activities. The transaction enables the business to be developed as part of a dedicated personal care manufacturer of greater scale and positions McBride’s European operations as a focused household business with a clear strategy to deliver sustainable profitable growth.”
