REG - Animalcare Group PLC - Disposal of Identicare Ltd

AnimalcareAnnouncement

28/02/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240228:nRSb7174Ea&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7174E  Animalcare Group PLC  28 February 2024

ANIMALCARE GROUP PLC

(the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Disposal of Identicare Ltd

 

Material value creation for shareholders from non-core asset

 

28 February 2024. Animalcare Group plc, the international animal health
business, announces that it has disposed of its majority shareholding in
Identicare Ltd ("Identicare") to BG Bidco 21 Limited, a newly incorporated
company owned by funds managed by Bridgepoint Advisors II Limited, for a cash
consideration of £24.9m (the "Consideration") payable upon completion of this
sale. This represents a significant crystallisation of value for the Company
and its shareholders from a non-core asset and allows the Company to focus on
growth in its pharmaceutical-based animal health market.

 

Identicare is a UK-based pet microchipping and pet owner-focused services
company. As part of the Group's strategy to focus on pharmaceuticals and to
drive growth through launching innovative products, Identicare was separated
from the UK pharmaceuticals business within Animalcare Ltd in March 2021, with
specialist leadership brought in. The decisions taken by the Company to instil
new leadership and with this, a strategic repositioning of the business to
make it attractive to specialist investors has enabled Animalcare to today
crystallise the value of its investment in Identicare.

 

Upon receipt of the Consideration and after fees associated with the
transaction, the Company's net cash is expected to be around £27.0m.

 

The disposal of Identicare significantly strengthens the balance sheet of the
Group and enables us to accelerate our organic and inorganic growth
initiatives and deliver long-term value creation for shareholders. We continue
to see a large number of opportunities and this transaction increases our
confidence in being able to execute on that pipeline.

 

The Company expects to announce its preliminary unaudited results on 9 April
2024 and will announce further updates to its business development and capital
allocation strategies at that time.

 

As of 31 December 2023, Identicare had net liabilities of approximately £6.9m
and for the 12 months to 31 December 2023, an EBITDA* of approximately £1.7m
and profit before tax of approximately £0.1m.

 

Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer commented: "I'm very proud to see what
we have achieved with Identicare in recent years. Today's decision to
crystallise the value from the sale is the logical next step, significantly
strengthening our balance sheet and giving us additional financial flexibility
and firepower as we concentrate on growing our pharmaceutical-focused animal
health business."

 

 

 

Notes

Identicare financials are taken from December management accounts and are
unaudited.

* EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation,
amortisation, exceptional items and share based payments.

 

About Animalcare

Animalcare Group plc is a UK AIM-listed international veterinary sales and
marketing organisation. Animalcare operates in seven countries and exports to
approximately 40 countries in Europe and worldwide. The Group is focused on
bringing new and innovative products to market through its own development
pipeline, partnerships and via acquisition.

 

For more information about Animalcare, please visit www.animalcaregroup.com
(http://www.animalcaregroup.com) or contact:

 

 Animalcare Group plc                      +44 (0)1904 487 687

 Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer

 Chris Brewster, Chief Financial Officer

 Media/investor relations                  communications@animalcaregroup.com

 Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited            +44 (0)20 7710 7600

(Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)

 Ben Maddison

 Nicholas Harland

 Francis North

 Panmure Gordon                            +44 (0)20 7886 2500

 (Joint Broker)

 Corporate Finance

 Freddy Crossley/Emma Earl

 Corporate Broking

 Rupert Dearden

 

 

 

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  DISGDGDDCGDDGSI