RNS Number : 2091P
Supercart PLC
20 March 2009
For Immediate Release
20 March 2009
SUPERCART PLC
US acquisition
Supercart Plc ('Supercart' or the 'Company'), the UK company involved in the design, marketing and distribution of all-plastic shopping trolleys, is pleased to announce that it has acquired certain of the mould tools, assets and business of Rehrig International Corp. ('Rehrig'), for a maximum total cash consideration of $1.45 million.
Rehrig was formerly one of the largest plastic shopping trolley manufacturers in the United States. It traded through until 23 December 2008 when it entered Chapter 7 Liquidation.
Supercart, through its wholly owned subsidiary company Plasti-Cart Inc, has acquired the plastic trolley moulds of the eight main Rehrig models, together with stock, work in progress and intellectual property rights to certain of Rehrig's brands (the 'Acquisition') from Bank of America, N.A. which now owns Rehrig. Under the terms of the Acquisition Supercart will pay an initial cash consideration of $650,000 and up to a maximum of a further $800,000 in cash based upon the sale of the Rehrig carts produced from the moulds.
At the same time Venture Holdings BV ('Venture'), which holds 37.16% of Supercart's total voting rights, has made available to Supercart a loan of $650,000 (the 'Loan') to finance the purchase of the Rehrig business and the further expansion of Supercart's US operations. The Loan is repayable over two years and carries an interest rate of 4.02 per cent per annum. The Directors consider, having consulted with Charles Stanley Securities the Company's nominated adviser, that the terms of the Loan are fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders are concerned.
Supercart has recruited two senior sales managers from Rehrig to join Supercart's US operation. The Company has also recruited the senior Rehrig Production Manager to oversee the installation and on-going manufacturing operations of the Rehrig moulds.
The Board estimates that the US shopping trolley market to be in excess of 2.0 million new trolleys per annum. The Board understands that Rehrig produced 500,000 units in 2005, and although this number had declined recently, the Board believes that Rehrig retained in excess of a 15% market share. No financial information is available for the assets being acquired but the Board estimates that turnover for these products in the 12 months to December 2007 was $27m. Given the circumstances of the transaction, no formal valuation of the assets has been conducted, but the Board believe that the consideration paid represents a significant discount to the value of the assets.
The former Rehrig sales team have maintained contact with many of Rehrig's key customers and the Company is confident of retaining a significant proportion of the Rehrig customer base. The Board believes that the new Supercart product range in the US will fit well with the eight Rehrig products and together will generate significant synergistic advantages in the key North American market.
Commenting on the asset purchase Mike Wolfe, Chief Executive, stated:
'I believe that acquiring these eight moulds and the other Rehrig assets is an extremely positive development for Supercart and for our expansion into the North American market. These moulds will be moved to our US manufacturing facilities within the next 10 days. We expect to commence deliveries of this range of Rehrig products by 1 July 2009.'
For further information
Supercart plc 01732 459898
Mike Wolfe, Chief Executive
Stephen Wright, Finance Director
Charles Stanley Securities 020 7149 6000
Nominated Adviser
Russell Cook / Carl Holmes
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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