Disposal of Jena Tec for £13.45m
5 November 2012
Avingtrans plc
("Avingtrans" or "the Company")
Sale of Jena Tec to Kuroda Precision Industries Ltd. ("Kuroda") of Japan
Focus now on Aerospace and Energy Divisions
Avingtrans plc, which designs, manufactures and supplies critical components
and associated services to the global aerospace, energy, medical and industrial
sectors, announces that it has agreed the sale of its Industrial division,
comprising the Jena Tec sub-group of companies ("Jena Tec"), to Kuroda, of
Japan, for a cash consideration of £13.45 million (the "Sale").
Highlights:
* Cash consideration of £13.45 million
* Avingtrans now focused on Aerospace and Energy & Medical Divisions
* Aerospace continues to thrive with record order book
* Board continues to evaluate potential acquisition targets
*
+ Disposal of Jena Tec provides certainty of funding
The Board believes that the Sale will enable Avingtrans to fully focus on its
two core sectors through its remaining divisions, namely Aerospace and Energy &
Medical, which together contributed revenues of £32.2 million and earnings
before interest and tax ("EBIT") of £1.8 million (before group costs and
impairment of goodwill) during the year ended 31 May 2012 and currently employ
548 people. The proceeds of the Sale will be used to invest further in the
growth of these divisions and to reduce debt, whilst the Board also continues
to evaluate acquisition targets that it believes will enhance long-term
shareholder value.
The Industrial division contributed revenue of £11.8 million and EBIT of £1.3
million during the year ended 31 May 2012. At that date, the gross assets of
Jena Tec were £12.6 million. The division was constructed by Avingtrans from a
series of small acquisitions over several years, which originally cost
approximately £4 million in total. Jena Tec employs 178 people across its
operations based in Germany, the UK, USA and China, all of whom are expected to
transfer to Kuroda. Jena Tec's principal business is the design, manufacturing
and servicing of Precision Ballscrews, Spindles and Linear Motion actuation
systems for automation and control of CNC machines and precision
instrumentation. The final procedural steps for the disposal will be completed
on Thursday, November 8th.
Steve McQuillan, Chief Executive, of Avingtrans commented:
"Whilst Avingtrans is in the enviable position of having three solid,
profitable businesses, our overall size and corporate structure has meant that
we have been unable to invest in each of the businesses to the degree that we
would like and thereby maximise the opportunities available in each of our
divisions.
"The sale of Jena Tec provides us with a more focused business and the proceeds
will allow us to invest for future growth. Our Aerospace division has been
thriving and our order book at the financial year end remained at record
levels. The creation of Sigma Composites in February is evidence of our ability
to create value by targeted investment and we will continue to explore
opportunities which would improve our customer reach or product offering and
thereby further strengthen our position in this attractive market.
"The Energy and Medical division had a difficult period last year, but is well
placed to recover in the second half of this financial year, as the volume of
activity with Siemens increases. We have continued to cement our key
relationships within this division and add further customers, which will enable
us to prosper in the years ahead.
"We are very proud of all that we have achieved with Jena Tec during our
stewardship, including consistently improved sales and profitability. We
believe it is well positioned to continue on this growth path under its new
owners and we wish our friends there, the employees and Kuroda all the very
best for the future. "
-ends-
Avingtrans plc Tel: 01159 499 020
Steve McQuillan, Chief Executive Officer
finnCap (Nominated Advisor & Broker) Tel: 020 7220 0500
Marc Young/ Henrik Persson
Newgate Threadneedle(Financial PR) Tel: 020 7653 9850
Josh Royston
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