Acquisition

AssetCo PLC 24 December 2007 For immediate release 24 December 2007 AssetCo plc ('AssetCo' and or the 'Company') Acquisitions of TVAC - The Vehicle Application Centre Limited ('TVAC') and UV Modular Limited ('UVM') AssetCo plc, (AIM : ASTO) a leading provider of support services to the UK Fire and Rescue Service, is pleased to announce that it has acquired the issued share capital of TVAC, an established provider of engineering solutions to, inter alia, the UK Fire and Rescue Service and UVM, a leading designer and manufacturer of ambulances for the emergency and local authority sectors. The consideration payable for TVAC is an initial amount of GBP2.08million comprising GBP780,000 in cash and GBP1.3 million in AssetCo plc shares together with potential deferred consideration of up to GBP6.87 million. The consideration payable for UVM is an initial amount of GBP700,000 in cash with potential deferred consideration of up to GBP800,000. TVAC TVAC is a leading manufacturer of a full range of fire engineered equipment, vehicle appliances and vehicle conversions to, inter alia, the UK Fire and Rescue Service. As one of the most professional, innovative and R&D focused manufacturers, the company is the UK franchise holder for Plastisol, the preferred fire appliance body in the UK, and has been involved in the build of vehicles for the majority of Fire and Rescue Authorities in the country. As well as assembling fire appliances, TVAC has a long and successful tri-partite development partnership with AssetCo and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority to supply the most advanced fire appliances to the London Fire Brigade. The acquisition will bring a complementary set of technologies and expertise to enhance the design, engineering and build capability offered by the Group's Papworth Specialist Vehicles subsidiary. This acquisition will make AssetCo the largest provider of fire appliances to the UK Fire and Rescue market and leaves the Company well positioned to take advantage of the growth anticipated in a number of overseas markets. The Directors expect the transaction to be earnings enhancing in the first full financial year of ownership. In the year ended 31 August 2007, TVAC reported PBT of GBP625,000 on turnover of GBP18.4 million and had net liabilities of GBP1.38 million. Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, AssetCo (through its subsidiary entity, AssetCo Specialist Vehicles Limited ('AssetCo Specialist Vehicles' or the 'Purchaser')) has acquired the entire issued share capital of TVAC for consideration comprising: - an initial consideration of GBP2.08 million which is to be satisfied as to GBP780,000 in cash and as to GBP1.3 million in shares by the issue of 724,233 new ordinary shares in AssetCo at 179.5 pence - a deferred payment of up to GBP6.87 million in cash, in part dependent upon the trading performance of the specialist vehicles division of AssetCo (of which TVAC will form a part). Up to GBP2.87m may be payable on 31 May 2009 with the balance potentially payable by 31 May 2010. Application will be made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. The new ordinary shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares of the Company. UVM UVM is the UK's largest specialist designer and manufacturer of ambulances for the emergency and local authority sectors.. Since its formation in 2002, UVM has achieved a strong reputation for the build quality of its vehicles and gained a significant share of the market for box conversion ambulances in the UK. In addition to manufacturing ambulances, UVM also builds mobility vehicles primarily for delivery to UK local authorities. Two types of coach built ambulances are sold by UVM: the modular (aluminium) and the premia (fibreglass). In addition, UVM also supplies a small number of van conversion ambulances and 'hybrid' ambulances (a cross between a patient transit services vehicle and an ambulance). Combining UVM with AssetCo's existing ambulance conversion expertise, capacity and state of the art CAD/CAM systems at Papworth Specialist Vehicles will consolidate UVM's position as the largest provider of ambulances to the UK and will deliver economies of scale and offer the market greater choice of design, build, conversion, and assembly options from one, dedicated supplier. UVM is currently a loss making business; however the Directors expect to establish a break even position during the first full year of ownership. In the year ended 30 June 2007, UVM reported a loss before tax of GBP1.5 million on turnover of GBP26.2 million and had net liabilities of GBP2.1 million. AssetCo Specialist Vehicles has acquired the entire ordinary share capital of UVM for a total consideration of up to GBP1.5 million, comprising GBP700,000 in cash payable at completion and a maximum deferred cash consideration of GBP800,000 to be paid in accordance with a gross profit based earn-out agreement. John Shannon, Chief Executive Officer, commented: 'We are pleased to announce these two acquisitions, both of which help us deliver additional engineering solutions to not only the UK Fire and Rescue Service, but also extend our supply reach into the UK Ambulance Service. This is consistent with our stated strategy of establishing a more stable and secure supply chain to our core Fire & Rescue Service market and also expanding our operation beyond the UK Fire and Rescue Service, into the NHS market where our managed service offering is receiving increasing interest. These acquisitions will allow the scale, innovation and reputation of TVAC and UVM to be combined with the capacity and state of the art design and manufacturing systems already offered by AssetCo. It is our aim to build on these unique strengths to develop a recognized centre of excellence for the emergency services. This will provide them with wider choice, greater innovation, and a more robust, financially secure, supply chain when choosing where to place their major investment programmes. This is an issue of long term concern for public sector clients. We continue to evolve our overall offering to the emergency services and are pleased to have recently completed these important synergistic acquisitions.' For more information please contact: AssetCo plc Tel: +44 (0) 20 8515 3999 John Shannon Frank Flynn Hoare Govett Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7678 8000 Stephen Bowler John MacGowan Richard Crichton Buchanan Communications Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000 Tim Anderson Isabel Podda This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

Companies

AssetCo (ASTO)
UK 100

Latest directors dealings