Acquisition

RNS Number : 4228C

Christie Group PLC

01 May 2012

 



1 May 2012

Christie Group plc

('Christie Group' or 'the Group')

Christie + Co acquires Orridge Business Sales

to create UK's largest specialist pharmacy practice

Christie + Co, the transactional and advisory company of the Christie Group, announces that it has today acquired Orridge Business Sales Limited ("Orridge Business Sales"), the specialist pharmacy business agents for an undisclosed consideration.  The acquisition of Orridge Business Sales by Christie + Co will create the UK's largest specialist pharmacy agency and advisory practice. Christie + Co operates from a network of 14 UK offices, each serving a dedicated region of the country, and 13 international offices.

Orridge Business Sales was founded by Queen Victoria's pharmacist Benjamin Orridge in 1846 and is the oldest established specialist firm of pharmacy business agents in the UK. Christie Group previously acquired the retail and stocktaking business, trading as Orridge, in 2002. The acquisition of Orridge Business Sales will enable the Group to further exploit opportunities that exist across the client bases of both companies.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Rugg, Chief Executive of Christie Group and Chairman of Christie + Co, said:

"This acquisition is extremely exciting for us and a natural expansion of our presence in the pharmacy sector.

"In a period when the pharmacy sector continues to demonstrate its resilience to general market conditions and its popularity with investors, the bringing of Orridge Business Sales into the Christie + Co fold is very timely. Our combined expertise and experience will, I am certain, be of great value to our clients

"We have great respect for the history of the Orridge business and look forward to welcoming its clients to the wider Christie Group. We believe that Christie + Co's enlarged register of pharmacies for sale is now the largest in the UK and will offer both independent and corporate operators the best choice, whilst our transactional database provides reliable comparables for valuation purposes in an opaque market."

Enquiries:

David Rugg	020 7227 0707
Chief Executive
Christie Group plc
Russell Cook / Carl Holmes	020 7149 6000
Charles Stanley Securities
Nominated Adviser & Broker
Tom Cooper / Paul Vann	020 3176 4722
Winningtons	0797 122 1972

Notes to Editors:

Christie Group plc (CTG.L), quoted on AIM, is a leading professional business services group with 38 offices across the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East, catering to its specialist markets in the leisure, retail and care sectors.

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

The Group has a long established reputation for offering essential 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.

 

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