Brammer to boost deals warchest with £53m fundraising
BRAMMER, the North West-based distributor of industrial components and tools is looking to strengthen it balance sheet and give it the ability to make more acquisitions with a £53.7m fundraising.
The Knutsford headquartered group, which has operations across Europe, is planning to raise the funds through a placing of more than 11.3 million shares at 475p per share.
The company, which acquired a Scandinavian competitor, Lönne Holding in a £38m deal in January, said it has a pipeline of acquisition opportunities in Europe, and the fundraising would make these easier to achieve,
Brammer explained: “In considering such bolt-on acquisitions, the board recognises the importance of the group maintaining an appropriate capital structure.”
It added: “The proceeds of the placing will provide the group with the capability to pursue both these current and other value enhancing acquisition opportunities. The proceeds will be used to reduce the group’s borrowings in the short term and therefore the Placing is expected to be earnings dilutive in the current financial year.
“However, given the current pipeline of potential bolt-on acquisitions, the Group expects to have deployed the majority of the proceeds within the next 6-12 months.”
The company gave a brief trading update, reflecting quiet confidence with sales per working day in the first quarter of 2014 rising 5% on a like-for-like basis and 13% including the Lönne acquisition.
