REG - Christie Group PLC - Disposal of Orridge Holdings Limited

ChristieAnnouncement

05/11/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 9051K  Christie Group PLC  05 November 2024

5 November 2024

Christie Group plc

("Christie Group" or the "Company")

 

Disposal of Orridge Holdings Limited

 

Christie Group plc (CTG.L), the leading provider of Professional &
Financial Services and Stock & Inventory Systems & Services to the
hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare & education and
retail sectors, is pleased to announce that on 4 November 2024 it sold the
entire issued share capital of Orridge Holdings Limited to RGIS Inventory
Specialists Limited ("RGIS") for a cash consideration of £5m.

 

The consideration is structured on a cash free/debt free basis, and comprises
an upfront cash payment of £4m and up to a further £1m of retained
consideration to be payable 12 months after completion.  The upfront payment
of £4m is itself subject to normal completion account adjustments.

 

Orridge is Europe's longest established stocktaking business, having been
founded in 1846. It's pan-European services are co-ordinated from operational
bases in the UK, Germany and Belgium. Orridge specialises in all fields of
stocktaking including high street retailing, warehousing and factory
operations, pharmacies and supply chain services. As at 31 December 2023,
Orridge held gross assets of £4.5m and generated a loss before tax and
extraordinary items of £1.2m.

 

The disposal reflects the Board's continued efforts to improve the quality of
earnings, and the net proceeds from the disposal will be used to strengthen
the balance sheet and allow the Group to focus on growth opportunities in its
core businesses and end markets to deliver value for all stakeholders.

 

Dan Prickett, Christie Group Chief Executive Officer commented:

 

"Following a review of its performance and potential future funding
requirements within the Christie Group, the Board unanimously concluded that
we should explore opportunities for divesting the Orridge brand. We are
therefore delighted to have completed a sale which eliminates the exposure to
the Group of future operating losses from the brand, while providing Orridge's
clients and staff with the opportunity to benefit from being part of RGIS's
commitment to their own international expansion strategy and the enhancement
of their service proposition in their key European markets."

 

Simon Herrick, Christie Group Chairman commented:

 

"We are delighted with this significant step towards improving the value of
Christie Group plc for the benefit of its stakeholders and thank all involved
for their hard work in achieving it. This transaction will improve the Group's
near-term profitability and cash flow by reducing the funding of subsidiary
trading losses. It will release both time and resource to invest in the
profitable growth of our core businesses and our strategically important
international expansion."

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Christie Group plc
 Dan Prickett                     07885 813101

Chief Executive
 Simon Hawkins

Chief Financial Officer

                                  07767 354366

 Shore Capital
 Patrick Castle / Sophie Collins  020 7408 4090

Nominated Advisor and Broker

 

Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc, quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services
group with 33 offices across the UK and Europe, catering to its specialist
markets in the hospitality, leisure, healthcare, medical, childcare &
education and retail sectors.

 

Christie Group operates in two complementary business divisions: Professional
& Financial Services (PFS) and Stock & Inventory Systems &
Services (SISS). These divisions trade under the brand names: PFS - Christie
& Co, Pinders, Christie Finance and Christie Insurance: SISS - Venners and
Vennersys.

 

Tracing its origins back to 1846, the Group has a long-established reputation
for offering valued services to client companies in agency, valuation
services, investment, consultancy, project management, multi-functional
trading systems and online ticketing services, stock audit and inventory
management. The diversity of these services provides a natural balance to the
Group's core agency business.

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information under the UK Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No.
596/2014.

 

For more information, please go to https://www.christiegroup.com/.

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