NWF swoops for Shropshire fuel firm

SHROPSHIRE-based Swan Petroleum has been acquired by food, fuel and farm feed distributer NWF in a £2.75m deal.

The deal is NWF’s second bolt-on transaction for its fuels business this year after it acquired Warwickshire company Eveson Fuels for £3.3m in January.

Swan, which has capacity of 42m litres, will increase NWF Fuels division’s volume by 10% and enhance its current penetration across the North West and North Wales.

Based near Oswestry, Swan has been trading for 30 years and operates from three sites including a significant storage facility at Babbinswood near Oswestry with a fleet of 13 tankers.

Swan’s other depots are located at Byley, near Middlewich and Irlam, in Greater Manchester.

NWF will integrate the business into its existing 17-depot structure delivering improvements in operating efficiency and will retain the Swan brand.

For the year ended March 2011, Swan posted revenue of £28.5m and operating profits of £200,000.

Net assets at March 31, 2011, were £4.5m. Pro-forma net assets, adjusted to reflect the acquisition terms, were £300,000.

The deal has been funded from Cheshire-based NWF’s existing bank facilities and is expected to be earnings enhancing in the first full financial year of ownership.

NWF chief executive Richard Whiting said “Trading since the start of our new financial year is in line with our expectations and we are excited by the opportunities this acquisition provides.

“It represents a significant bolt-on to our Fuel division’s operations, in line with our strategy, as indicated during our recent full year results’ announcement in August.

“It increases further our penetration in the key North West and North Wales markets and offers some significant synergies with our existing business.

“The strength of the customer mix and the brand are key attributes of the business.

“Following the acquisition, NWF Fuels will deliver over 470m litres of fuel annually to over 38,000 customers from 20 sites across the UK.”