Hotel Chocolat buys out Rabot joint venture partners

British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has agreed to buy out the remaining 53% of its Rabot 1745 joint venture.

Rabot, which distributes a range of beauty products "inspired by the wild beauty of the group's Saint Lucian cacao farm and rainforest spa", was established in 2016 as a joint venture between the company and non-executive chairman Andrew Gerrie,

The AIM-listed group and Andrew Gerrie own 47% and 40.5% of the issued share capital of Rabot, respectively, with the balance currently held by non-related parties.

However, Hotel Chocolat has agreed to acquire the remaining 53% of Rabot's issued share capital, including the 40.5% owned by Gerrie, for a total cash consideration of £4.00.

As a result of the acquisition, Hotel Chocolat will acquire Rabot's inventories and other assets, as well as liabilities which include an outstanding loan amount owed to Andrew Gerrie totalling £744,249, which it will settle through the issue of 203,903 new ordinary shares of 0.1p each.

As of 0825 BST, Hotel Chocolat shares were down 0.80% at 366.05p.