Flooring firm reveals £218m US investment

Flooring firm Victoria has agreed a deal which will see US-based Koch Equity Development (KED) invest some £218m in the company.

Yesterday, the Kidderminster firm said KED has committed to £175m investment by way of convertible preferred shares which it will issue. This morning, it added that KED had bought over £43m in ordinary shares.

KED will initially invest £75m into Victoria, followed by a second round of funding of £100m. KED can also appoint a board member as part of the deal.

Victoria has also entered into discussion to buy back over 8.5 million of its own shares at £3.50 a share.

Victoria executive chairman, Geoff Wilding, said: “Victoria’s business model has proven resilient this year during the most difficult trading conditions in living memory. So, the time has now come to again focus on growth and the capital provided by Koch will enable us to deliver significant value creation while maintaining stable and secure debt leverage ratios. I am delighted to bring the capital, resources, and deep industrial expertise of the largest privately held company in the United States to Victoria’s next phase of growth as we execute on the exceptional organic growth and acquisition opportunity ahead.”

Koch Equity Development managing director, Blake Ressel, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Victoria. We have conducted due diligence over the last few months, and we are confident in Victoria’s strategy, its management team, and the size of the market opportunity. We expect our investment to help Victoria accelerate execution of its growth plans.”