Exclusivity re Potential Branch Acquisition

RNS Number : 4725B

Lords Group Trading PLC

15 February 2022

 

For immediate release

15 February 2022

Lords Group Trading plc

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

Exclusivity re Potential Branch Acquisition

Lords, a leading distributor of building materials in the UK, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary, Hevey Building Supplies Limited ("Hevey"), has signed an exclusivity agreement (the "Agreement") and reached an agreement in principle with Huws Gray Limited for the potential acquisition (the "Potential Acquisition") by Hevey of a Buildbase branch of the timber and building materials business of Grafton Merchanting GB Limited ("GMGB"), currently operating from a single site in Sudbury, Suffolk (the "Sudbury Branch").

Under the Agreement, Hevey has been provided with exclusivity until 31 March 2022 in relation to its Potential Acquisition of the Sudbury Branch which generated revenues of £5.1 million in the year to 31 December 2021.  Hevey will now engage with Huws Gray and Sudbury Branch stakeholders in respect of the Potential Acquisition, which would offer synergies for the Sudbury Branch and the wider Lords Merchanting division across product range, acquired customers and digital presence whilst also further enhancing Hevey's growing East of England presence.

Whilst the Potential Acquisition remains subject to agreement between the parties, it is envisaged that the Potential Acquisition will see all employees of the Sudbury Branch transferred into the employment of the Group.  The total consideration payable of not more than £2.2 million will be met from the Company's existing cash resources.

Further announcements will be made, as appropriate, in due course.

Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Lords, said: "The proposed acquisition of GMGB's timber & building materials business is another strong statement for Lords as we continue to deliver the Group's M&A strategy set out at IPO. The potential acquisition will, if completed, further diversify our offering to existing customers and will offer significant synergies with our Merchanting division."

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FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:

Lords Group Trading plc	Via Buchanan
Shanker Patel, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
Chris Day, Chief Financial Officer
Cenkos Securities plc	Tel: [phone]
Ben Jeynes / Max Gould / Dan Hodkinson (Corporate Finance)
Alex Pollen (Sales)
Buchanan Communications	Tel: [phone]
Henry Harrison-Topham / Stephanie Whitmore / Kim Looringh-van Beeck / Kiki Norman	[e-mail]

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 27 locations in the UK.

·     Heating and Plumbing: a specialist distributor in the UK of heating and plumbing 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 nine 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 36 sites.  Lords aims to become a £500 million turnover building materials distributor group by 2024 as it grows its national presence.

Lords was admitted to trading on AIM in July 2021 with the ticker LORD.L.  For additional information please visit www.lordsgrouptradingplc.co.uk .

 

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