Begbies Traynor acquires chartered surveyors Budworth Hardcastle

Corporate restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor has acquired chartered surveyors Budworth Hardcastle as part of a deal that values the firm at as much as £2.4m.

Begbies Traynor said on Monday that it will integrate Budworth Hardcastle into Eddisons, its property division in an effort to increase the scale and quality of its businesses.

The AIM-listed group will pay an initial consideration of £900,000 for Budworth, £600,000 of which was in cash, while the remainder will be satisfied through the issue of 206,937 new ordinary shares.

Begbies added that the deal also included a contingent cash consideration of up to £900,000, subject to maintaining financial performance in the three years following completion, and a maximum cash earn-out of £600,000, subject to meeting growth targets over the five-year period post-completion.

Chairman Ric Traynor said: "The acquisition of Budworth Hardcastle is in line with our strategy to develop our property advisory and transactional services division, by increasing both its scale and market position, as well as the scope of its service offering and geographical coverage.

"Budworth Hardcastle has excellent relationships with a broad range of clients which have been developed over many years and we are very much looking forward to working with them."

As of 0805 BST, Begbies Traynor shares were up 1.90% at 149.80p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com