Flooring manufacturer completes deal worth £7.1m

Kidderminster flooring giant Victoria, has completed its acquisition of Turkish ceramic tile manufacturer Graniser in a deal worth £7.1m.

The firm also made a repayment of approximately £33.7m of net debt with all settlement funds coming entirely from Victoria’s cash balances.

Established in 1997, Graniser has been ultimately owned 75% by the Austrian investment company, Bancroft Group and 25% by the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development since 2012.

The company manufactures ceramic tiles from a single 75,000 sq m production facility it owns, close to Izmir port, a major export hub.

Victoria says its products are still highly in demand and the additional production capacity of 21 million sqm per annum that Graiser adds to Victoria’s 52 million sqm is welcomed.

Approximately 70% of Graniser’s revenue is in Euros and the business currently generates normalised EBITDA of £7.7m per annum.

Victoria says whilst the acquisition will enhance earnings, it will complement the firm’s existing ceramic tile operations.

Whilst the acquisition will therefore be immediately earnings-enhancing, the synergies with the Group’s existing ceramic tile operations – in particular by making use of Graniser’s spare production capacity – to create additional value for Victoria’s shareholders will be actioned without delay.

Philippe Hamers, group chief executive of Victoria, said when the deal was announced: “Victoria’s ceramic tiles business continues to go from strength to strength. The low-cost manufacturing environment that Graniser offers will give Victoria the ability to leverage its manufacturing expertise and brand strength to further drive operating margins.”

Geoff Wilding, executive chairman of Victoria, said: “Following completion of the Acquisition, Victoria will have invested circa £201 million in the current financial year to add approximately £35 million of EBITDA to the group. Victoria’s strategy of achieving scale through acquisitions and using that scale to extract operational synergies continues to deliver value for the group and its shareholders.

“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 earning accretive acquisitions.”