Acquisition of Tozer Gallagher LLP

RNS Number : 2092G
Gateley (Holdings) PLC
23 July 2021
 

23 July 2021

 

Gateley (Holdings) Plc

 

("Gateley" or the "Group")

(AIM:GTLY)  

 

Acquisition of the Business and Assets of Tozer Gallagher LLP

("Tozer Gallagher")

 

Gateley, the  legal and professional services group , is pleased to announce the acquisition by Gateley Vinden Limited of the business and assets of Tozer Gallagher LLP, a leading practice of chartered quantity surveyors and construction consultants, for a total maximum consideration of £700,000, plus an amount equal to the book value of the assets acquired (the "Acquisition") , expected to be approximately £115,000.  

 

Tozer Gallagher will join the Gateley Vinden business, which the Group acquired in March 2020. This strategic Acquisition adds further strength and depth to the Group's Property Platform and is the tenth business that Gateley has acquired since its IPO in 2015.

 

Background to Tozer Gallagher

 

Tozer Gallagher was founded over 30 years ago and is a nationally recognised and highly respected practice of chartered quantity surveyors and construction consultants based in Manchester and London. The business specialises in built environment consultancy, fund monitoring services, and surety advisory.

 

The Tozer Gallagher team, headed by Directors Bill Ibram, Anthony Meaden and Paul Rigby, are well known to Gateley Vinden and Gateley Legal, having previously collaborated on a number of projects.  All three Directors will continue to work as part of the management team of Gateley Vinden incorporating Tozer Gallagher.

 

Tozer Gallagher's clients include QBE, Euler Hermes, Aviva Insurance and Bank ABC, as well as a number of councils, education trusts and social housing providers across the UK. In the year ending 31 May 2021, Tozer Gallagher produced revenues of circa £1m.

 

Acquisition rationale

 

The Acquisition will enable Gateley Vinden to widen the scope of its existing built environment consultancy and fund monitoring services.

 

The surety advisory expertise within Tozer Gallagher adds further strength to Gateley Vinden's business but also complements the specialist surety work undertaken by Gateley Legal's surety practice team. The internationally recognised experts within Gateley Legal's surety team have a proven track record in advising on contentious and non-contentious issues, relating to any surety.

 

Terms of the acquisition

 

Under the terms of the Acquisition agreement, Gateley will pay a total maximum consideration of £700,000 plus an amount equal to the book value of the assets acquired. The initial payment on completion will be approximately £600,000, payable in cash. The three Tozer Gallagher Directors will each subscribe £100,000 for in aggregate 142,179 new ordinary shares of 10 pence each in the capital of Gateley ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of £2.11 per Ordinary Share, such share subscription being equal to approximately 50% of the cash consideration payable on completion. The book value of the assets acquired by Gateley Vinden Limited shall be agreed and determined after completion of the Acquisition but is expected to be approximately £115,000 and in any event is capped at £125,000.

 

Deferred consideration of up to £100,000 is payable based on the acquired business' financial performance in the 12 month period following completion of the Acquisition. Deferred consideration will be settled in cash, with each recipient applying 50% of their deferred consideration in subscribing for Ordinary Shares, valued at the average 30-day closing price of an Ordinary Share on the last practicable date as the deferred consideration falls due.

 

The cash consideration is being funded out of the Group's existing resources. The Board expects the Acquisition to generate operational synergies and be immediately earnings enhancing.

 

Issue of new Ordinary Shares

 

Further to the subscription referred to above, 142,179 Ordinary Shares are to be issued. Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the 142,179 new Ordinary Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will take place at 8.00 a.m. on 28 July 2021.

 

The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares in issue. Following Admission, Gateley's total issued share capital will comprise 118,118,551 Ordinary Shares. This number may be used by shareholders in Gateley as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of Gateley under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

 

Commenting on the Acquisition, Rod Waldie, Chief Executive Officer of Gateley, said:

 

"I am delighted to welcome Tozer Gallagher to the Group.  The Tozer Gallagher team has worked with many of our colleagues in Gateley Legal and Gateley Vinden and we know there are many opportunities to collaborate further.  We also have a shared interest in surety work and regularly work with the same clients, so this is an area where we see further growth potential.  

 

"This Acquisition sits within the diversification part of our strategy to establish complementary services that support our Platform strategy. We believe there is also an opportunity for Gateley Vinden, incorporating Tozer Gallagher, to collaborate further within our well-established Property Platform and we are looking forward to supporting their future development in line with our growth plans."

- Ends -

 

Enquiries:

Gateley (Holdings) Plc

 

Neil Smith, Finance Director

Tel: +44 (0) 121 234 0196

Nick Smith, Acquisitions Director and Head of Investor Relations

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7653 1665

Cara Zachariou, Head of Corporate Communications

Tel: +44 (0) 121 234 0074 Mob: +44 (0) 7703 684 946

 

 

finnCap - Nominated Adviser and Broker

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7220 0575

Matt Goode / James Thompson (Corporate Finance)

 

Andrew Burdis (ECM)

 

 

 

N+1 Singer - Joint Broker

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7496 3000

Peter Steel (Corporate Finance)

 

Rachel Hayes (Corporate Broking)

 

 

 

Belvedere Communications Limited - Financial PR

 

Cat Valentine (cvalentine@belvederepr.com)

Mob: +44 (0) 7715 769 078

Keeley Clarke (kclarke@belvederepr.com)

Mob: +44 (0) 7967 816 525

Llew Angus (langus@belvederepr.com)

Mob: +44 (0) 7407 023 147

 

gateleypr@belvederepr.com

 

This information is provided by Reach, the non-regulatory press release distribution service of RNS, part of the London Stock Exchange. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

Reach is a non-regulatory news service. By using this service an issuer is confirming that the information contained within this announcement is of a non-regulatory nature. Reach announcements are identified with an orange label and the word “Reach” in the source column of the News Explorer pages of London Stock Exchange’s website so that they are distinguished from the RNS UK regulatory service. Other vendors subscribing for Reach press releases may use a different method to distinguish Reach announcements from UK regulatory news.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.
 
END
 
 
NRASEEFAEEFSEDW
UK 100

Latest directors dealings