Acquisition of Indus Films Li

RNS Number : 0486B

Boomerang Plus PLC

20 October 2009

 



Date:                       20 October 2009

On behalf of:           Boomerang Plus plc ('Boomerang' or 'the Group') 

Embargoed until:    0700hrs 

Boomerang Plus plc 

Acquisition of Indus Films Limited

Further to its announcement on 15 October 2009, Boomerang Plus plc (AIM: BOOM.L), the multi-genre independent television production group, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of Indus Films Limited ('Indus'), a Welsh-based, network-focused, award winning production company ('the Acquisition').

The Acquisition will significantly diversify the Group's customer base and broaden its genre portfolio to include adventure, environmental, living history, natural history and arts.  Steve Robinson and Paul Islwyn Thomas, founders of Indus, will remain with the business and offer extensive creativity and experience to Boomerang's talented team of programme makers.

The initial consideration for the Acquisition is £1.1m in cash. Of this initial consideration, £0.88m was paid on completion and £0.22m will become payable on the first anniversary of the Acquisition. Further consideration of up to £1.295m in cash and new Boomerang shares may become payable dependent upon the achievement by Indus of profit before taxation 

targets over the three-year period post the Acquisition. 

For the year ended 30 June 2008, Indus achieved unaudited earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £0.263m and unaudited profit before taxation of £0.209m on turnover of £5.32m.  Indus had unaudited net assets at 30 June 2008 of £0.122m.  The Acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for Boomerang in the financial year ending 31 May 2010.

Huw Eurig Davies, Chief Executive Officer of Boomerang, said: 

"Indus is a great strategic fit for Boomerang. We have long admired Indus' award winning talents and are delighted to have the opportunity to benefit from their experience and creativity in our own work. The Acquisition significantly expands Boomerang's customer base and genre offering and will further enhance our position as the supplier of choice to the Network Broadcasters looking to fill their quotas for the Nations and Regions."

Paul Islwyn Thomas, Managing Director of Indus, said: 

"We are delighted to be joining forces with Boomerang at such an exciting time in our development.  Over the last few years, both companies have produced an impressive range of programming, and this new alliance will provide an excellent creative and business platform to enable us to aim for even more ambitious targets in the future."    

Steve Robinson, Director of Programmes of Indus, said: 

"This is an exciting new development for Indus. We have a strong track record in making high-quality, award-winning programmes to the UK and US networks.  The partnership with Boomerang will allow us to continue to grow and make the most of the opportunities coming to Wales in the future."

- Ends -

Contacts: 

Boomerang Plus plc

Huw Eurig Davies, Chief Executive Officer        Via Redleaf Communications

Mark Fenwick, Finance Director

Redleaf Communications                                 [e-mail]  

Anna Dunkin / Samantha Robbins                      020 7566 6731 

Altium (NOMAD)

Tim Richardson / Melanie Szalkiewicz                020 7484 4040

Evolution Securities (Broker)

Adam Lloyd                                                           020 7071 4317

Notes to Editors: 

Boomerang

• Boomerang, founded in 1994, has extensive experience in producing content in a variety of genres, including extreme sports, youth programming, music, entertainment, children's programming, and drama.
  
  
• The market for independent television production companies in the Nations and Regions has grown following quotas from the regulator Ofcom, which require that, depending on the broadcaster, between 10 per cent. and 50 per cent. of qualifying programming hours must be sourced from outside the M25 boundary.
  
  
• Boomerang is ranked in the top three independent television production companies, by revenue, in the Nations and Regions according to the Broadcast Survey (Nations and Regions) 2009.
  
  
• Boomerang's strategy is both to achieve strong organic growth by leveraging the Group's existing customer base coupled with strategic acquisitions, with a view to becoming a major supplier to UK networks looking to satisfy their Nations and Regions quotas.

Indus Films Limited

• Indus Films is one of Wales' leading independent production companies, specialising in high quality adventure, arts and history programming for broadcasters in the UK and the US.
  
  
• Created in 2005 by former BBC Wales executives Steve Robinson and Paul Islwyn Thomas along with broadcast consultant Emyr Byron Hughes, Indus Films has created a strong reputation for high-end factual output.
  
  
• The company recently won a BAFTA for its BBC Two series Amazon with Bruce Parry. Other major output includes two series of Coal House, a living history project for BBC One Wales that achieved the broadcaster's highest ever viewing figures for a factual programme, Expedition Alaska for the Discovery Channel and Everest ER for BBC One.
  
  
• Indus Films aims to build on its already established track-record of making powerful documentaries and entertaining factual formats that are rich in content and reveal untold stories to mainstream audiences across the world.
  
  
• Indus producers and presenters have travelled the length of the Amazon, twice filmed on the summit of Mount Everest and soared with wild eagles in the foothills of the Himalayas. The company has explored the effects of climate change deep inside an Alaskan glacier, investigated the changing lives of remote tribes in the forests of New Guinea and worked with photographers in war zones.
  
  
• Building on its success in creating highly popular factual formats, such as award winning Coal House, Indus is currently in production on a new multi-platform project 'Snowdonia Farm' to be broadcast on the BBC in Autumn 2010. 

For further information on Boomerang Plus plc, interviews, and publication quality images, please contact Anna Dunkin on 020 7566 6700 or email [e-mail] 

 

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