Victoria goes Dutch with £50m acquisition

Victoria, the Kidderminster flooring business, has made a £49.4m swoop for Netherlands-based designer, manufacturer and distributor of artificial grass and carpets, Edel.

For the year ended 31 December 2020, Edel generated unaudited total revenues of £41.4m and normalised EBITDA of £8.7m. The firm operates through three bases – two in the Netherlands and one in Germany.

Philippe Hamers, Victoria group chief executive, said:”Victoria’s 2017 investment in the premium artificial landscaping grass sector has been very successful and this acquisition represents an opportunity to create Europe’s largest and most profitable business in the sector. The addition of production facilities benefits our customers by enabling them to source locally in Europe, avoiding inflationary and disruptive imports from the Far East. Furthermore, the outlook for this product category is positive due to growing consumer acceptance and increasing demand for sustainable products that address climate change.”

Geoff Wilding, Victoria’s executive chairman, said: “Victoria has, so far this financial year, invested a little over £90 million to add approximately £17 million of EBITDA to the group. We continue to have substantial amounts of capital to deploy and are in active discussions with additional high-quality opportunities to grow our business. Therefore, shareholders can expect further acquisitions in the weeks and months ahead.”