Acquisition

RNS Number : 0098K

Brulines Group PLC

12 December 2008

 



Press Release

12 December 2008

Brulines Group plc

('Brulines' or 'the Group')

Acquisition

Brulines Group plc (AIM:BRU), the market leading provider of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK leisure sector, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Vianet Limited ('Vianet') from the administrators of Vianet plc for an undisclosed fee.

Based in Dunfermline, Scotland, Vianet provides market leading telemetry and data capture solutions to the vending industry, as well as providing market leading M2M telemetry solutions in a growing market place.  Vianet reported a loss of £1,439,000 for the year ended 31 December 2007 on a turnover of £1,058,000 and at that date had gross assets of £980,000.  

The Directors believe that the proposed acquisition is a compelling strategic fit with the Group for the following reasons:  

• Brulines has been pursuing an increased presence in the vending marketplace, especially since its acquisition of Coin metrics, as it is a market that fits very well with the core competencies of the Group. This acquisition gives Brulines a significant and immediate presence in this growing market place without the need for Brulines to expend management time and resources developing a product offering.  

• Brulines can provide key data management know how and resources in terms of sales, marketing and operations to help drive Vianet's market penetration  

• There are significant technical, communication, organisational and customer synergies.  

The Directors believe that the combination of the two businesses should provide considerable cost savings which, when coupled with the opportunity to exploit pan European market opportunities, should enable the acquisition to become earnings enhancing during the year to March 2010.  Furthermore, the Directors believe that that there are significant synergies to be achieved in the enlarged business across a number of technical areas including devices, applications and connectivity.  

Commenting on the proposed acquisition, James Dickson, Chief Executive of Brulines Group plc, said:  

'The acquisition of Vianet is a natural extension of Brulines' core capabilities into a growing adjacent remote data capture and management market where there is an opportunity to establish market leading products and services.  Brulines has an efficient and scaleable data handling capability.  

'Vianet will immediately provide the Group with a pan-European customer opportunity which we will further consolidate as we also work towards expanding Brulines' existing activities into Europe as well.

'We will continue to pursue organic development of our core business whilst leveraging our key competencies and broadening our offering through strategic acquisitions in remote data capture and data management for the leisure, vending and petrol forecourt sectors.  

'Whilst maintaining our investment in the core leisure market the Group has the opportunity to establish market leading data handling positions in the vending and petrol forecourt sectors where we have identified considerable technology, operational and commercial overlap.'

- Ends -

  Enquiries:

Brulines Group plc James Dickson, Chief Executive
Mark Foster, Finance Director [e-mail]	Tel: [phone] www.brulines.com

Cenkos Securities plc Stephen Keys/Camilla Hume

Tel: [phone]

Media enquiries:

Abchurch
Sarah Hollins / Chris Lane / Jack Ballantyne	Tel: [phone]
[e-mail]	www.abchurch-group.com

  About Brulines

Brulines Group is focused on the provision of real time monitoring systems and data management services for the UK's pub, leisure, gaming and petrol sectors. The Group has four core divisions:

Dispense Monitoring (DMS)	The Group's core product, DMS, is widely used by owners and operators within the UK licensed on-trade, especially the tenanted / leased pub sector. Intelligent Flow Meters ('IFM'), connected to draught beer dispense lines send data via an on-site communication panel to a secure central database. Liquid volumes by fount, spirit optic, draught wine or post mix are tracked as they are served, thereby helping customers to maximise sales, service and quality as well as managing their costs . DMS is installed in over 22,000 pubs and manages data for more than one in three UK pubs.
Brand Quality Management  (BQM)	BQM is an extension of the Group's DMS and is the first system to provide effective measurement of true yields on draught products. Actual dispense volumes are compared with till transactions to identify shrinkage from products given away, pilferage and wastage. BQM measures the precise temperature of every pint as it is dispensed, the time taken to dispense each drink, and automatically identifies the liquid allowing customers to know exactly when lines are cleaned. Wherever they are customers can stay in control through accessing their information on a secure web site.
Leisure	The Group's subsidiaries Machine Insite and Coin metrics are involved in monitoring Amusement with Prize Machines ('AWP'). Customers benefit from state-of-the-art real-time data capture and reporting systems that deliver improved machine profitability and operational security.
UK Petrol Forecourt Management	The Group's wholly-owned subsidiary, Edensure, supplies key management information to independent, multi branded owner, and supermarket petrol forecourt operators in the UK which helps reduce loss of fuel and improve profitability

Headquartered in Stockton-on-Tees, Brulines employs more than 200 people. 

For further information, please visit www.brulines.com

About Vianet

Vianet has established itself as one of the primary European telemetry provider to the FMCG and vending industries over the past few years and the Vianet solution has received widespread industry recognition.  This is evidenced by the high technical standard of the products and services; the open system nature of the devices and applications; the establishment of the market and the winning of a number of global accounts.  

Major clients such as GSK in the UK with a three year service contract, France Telecom / Orange with a five year third party agreement to roll out Vianet's applications across Europe and a number of other major users at earlier stages of evolution offer significant scaling opportunities.  Brulines believes that Vianet's development will be enhanced by being part of the Brulines Group particularly with reference to the financial strength that Brulines will provide.

 

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