28 March
2024
Kitwave Group plc
("Kitwave", the
"Group" or the "Company")
Acquisition of Total Foodservice
Solutions Limited
Kitwave Group plc (AIM: KITW), the delivered
wholesale business, is pleased to announce that the Group has
acquired the entire issued share capital of Total Foodservice
Solutions Limited ("Total Foodservice"), a leading independent food
wholesaler in the North of England (the "Acquisition"). The total
gross consideration payable for the Acquisition is £21.0 million in
cash and has been funded from the Group's current banking
facilities.
Established over 130 years ago, Total
Foodservice delivers wholesale catering supplies of around 4,000
product lines including chilled, frozen and
ambient food, non-food and cleaning products. Total
Foodservice's depots are located in Clitheroe, Lancashire and
Huddersfield, Yorkshire with customers including licensed trade and
restaurants, coffee shops and sandwich bars, schools and
universities and the care industry across the North of
England.
Total Foodservice reported an
audited turnover of £25.4 million, profit before tax of £2.0
million and the balance sheet had net assets of £8.5 million for
the financial year ended 30 April 2023. The acquired balance sheet
includes c.£4.0 million of cash and freehold property with a book
value of £2.1 million. The net cash outflow from the Group as a
result of the consideration payable and the cash acquired is
c.£17.0 million. The Board believes that the Acquisition will be
immediately earnings enhancing after adding back costs relating to
the transaction.
The Acquisition will be incorporated
into Kitwave's existing Foodservice division which currently
comprises the trading operations of David Miller Frozen Foods
Limited, M. J. Baker Foodservice Limited, Westcountry Food Holdings
Limited and H.B. Clark & Co. (Successors) Limited.
Commenting on the Acquisition, Ben Maxted, Chief Executive
Officer of Kitwave, said:
"We are delighted to announce the acquisition
of Total Foodservice, which is a one-stop shop for wholesale
commercial catering supplies and enables us to further expand our
product range offering across the North of England and in
particular Yorkshire and the North West, complementing our existing
foodservice offering.
"Total Foodservice is a well-established
business in the catering industry and we look forward to welcoming
its team to Kitwave and integrating the business into our
Foodservice division.
"This acquisition is in line with Kitwave's
growth strategy, and we will continue to seek to identify further
opportunities in the UK's highly fragmented wholesale market to
deliver further value to the Group and its
shareholders."
-
Ends-
For
further information please contact:
Kitwave Group plc
Ben Maxted, Chief Executive
Officer
David Brind, Chief Financial
Officer
www.kitwave.co.uk
|
Tel: +44 (0) 191 259 2277
|
Canaccord Genuity Limited
(Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)
Bobbie Hilliam
Alex Orr
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8150
|
Yellow Jersey PR
(Financial media and PR)
Sarah Hollins
Shivantha Thambirajah
Bessie Elliot
|
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512
|
Company
Overview
Founded in 1987, following the acquisition of a single-site
confectionery wholesale business based in North Shields, United
Kingdom, Kitwave is a delivered wholesale business, specialising in
selling and delivering impulse products, frozen, chilled and fresh
foods, alcohol, groceries and tobacco to approximately 42,000,
mainly independent, customers.
With a network of 30 depots, Kitwave is able to
support delivery throughout the UK to a diverse customer base,
which includes independent convenience retailers, leisure outlets,
vending machine operators, foodservice providers and other
wholesalers, as well as leading national retailers.
The Group's growth to date has been achieved
both organically and through a strategy of acquiring smaller,
predominantly family-owned, complementary businesses in the
fragmented UK grocery and foodservice wholesale market.
Kitwave Group plc was admitted to trading on
AIM of the London Stock Exchange in May 2021.
This announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of article 7 of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as amended by regulation 11 of the Market
Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the
publication of this announcement, this information is now
considered to be in the public
domain.