REG - Lords Group Trading - Property Transaction

Lords TradingAnnouncement

07/10/2024 08:45

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RNS Number : 1670H  Lords Group Trading PLC  07 October 2024

     7 October 2024

 

Lords Group Trading plc

('Lords', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

 

Property Transaction

 

Lords, a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, announces that
it has exchanged and completed binding agreements for the sale and leaseback
of the Heathrow branch from which its George Lines Civils & Landscaping
Merchants has been operating from for more than 40 years (the "Property").

 

The Property, which covers an area of 1.52 acres including 5,570 square feet
of covered storage, is being sold to Outback UK Propco 2 A Limited, for a cash
consideration of £7.1 million and will be leased back to George Lines on a
fifteen-year lease on market terms. Purchased from the vendor of George Lines
for £6.3 million, as outlined in the Company's announcement of 12 January
2023, to ensure Lords retained control of the site, the Group has to date paid
£3.2 million in cash with the balance of the remaining consideration payable
of £3.1 million to be settled on completion of the sale and leaseback of the
Property.

 

The net proceeds of the sale of £3.9 million will be applied towards reducing
Group borrowings, and in doing so providing additional liquidity capable of
selectively supporting future organic and acquisitive growth opportunities.

 

Commenting on the transaction, Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer of
Lords, said: "We are pleased to agree this transaction to support future
trading from the highly sought-after Heathrow site, that has exceptional
logistic and trading benefits for the George Lines merchanting brand and we
look forward to continuing to grow organically through new branch openings.
The financial benefits of the transaction are also supportive of our strategy
to scale the business and, as outlined at the recent interim results, the
Group's focus on operational efficiency and working capital management have
ensured that we are well positioned for a market recovery."

 

- Ends -

 

FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

 Lords Group Trading plc                                     Via Burson Buchanan
 Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer                      Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Stuart Kilpatrick, Chief Financial Officer

 Cavendish Capital Markets Limited                           Tel: +44 (0)20 7220 0500

 (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)
 Ben Jeynes / Dan Hodkinson (Corporate Finance)
 Julian Morse / Henry Nicol / Charlie Combe (Sales and ECM)

 

 Berenberg (Joint Broker)                                     Tel: +44 (0)20 3207 7800

 Matthew Armitt / Richard Bootle / Detlir Elezi

 Burson Buchanan                                              Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
 Henry Harrison-Topham / Stephanie Whitmore / Abby Gilchrist  LGT@buchanan.uk.com (mailto:LGT@buchanan.uk.com)

 

Notes to editors:

Lords is a specialist distributor of building, plumbing, heating and DIY
goods. The Group principally sells to local tradesmen, small to medium sized
plumbing and heating merchants, construction companies and retails directly to
the general public.

 

The Group operates through the following two divisions:

 

Merchanting: supplies building materials and DIY goods through its network of
merchant businesses and online platform capabilities. It operates both in the
'light side' (building materials and timber) and 'heavy side' (civils and
landscaping), through 31 locations in the UK.

 

Plumbing and Heating: a specialist distributor in the UK of plumbing and
heating products to a UK network of independent merchants, installers and the
general public. The division offers its customers an attractive proposition
through a multi-channel offering.  The division operates over 17 locations
enabling nationwide next day delivery service.

 

Lords was established over 35 years ago as a family business with its first
retail unit in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire.  Since then, the Group has
grown to a business operating from 48 sites.

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