Judges Scientific acquires Luciol Instruments

Scientific instrument investor Judges Scientific announced the successful acquisition of Luciol Instruments on Thursday, by its subsidiary PE Fiberoptics (PFO).

The AIM-traded firm said Luciol Instruments, based in Mies, Switzerland, is known for its manufacturing and sale of instruments designed for measuring optic fibre properties.

It said the acquisition, encompassing 100% of Luciol's issued share capital, was expected to have an immediate positive impact on earnings.

The initial consideration for the acquisition was CHF 2m (£1.83m) in cash, coupled with an earn-out payment slated for 2024 or 2025.

Judges said the earn-out payment was contingent on achieving four times the average adjusted EBIT for the four years ending on 31 December 2023, or 2024, if higher, minus CHF 2m.

It noted that the total consideration, including cash and earn-out components, was capped at CHF 2.5m, which would be realised if adjusted average EBIT for either period surpassed CHF 0.625m.

Additionally, an extra payment would be made to account for any excess working capital that exceeded the ongoing operational needs of the business.

The board said it anticipated that the surplus working capital would be covered by the cash inherited on the completion date of the acquisition.

Funding for this acquisition, along with associated transaction costs, was sourced from Judges Scientific's existing cash balances.

“We are pleased to welcome Luciol, a solid and profitable company manufacturing quality products, to the Judges group,” said chairman Alex Hambro.

“The board believes that its interaction with PFO will be fruitful.”

At 1201 GMT, shares in Judges Scientific were up 2.93% at 9,470p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.