Judges Scientific increases stake in Bordeaux

Scientific instrument investor Judges Scientific has increased its interest in its majority-owned subsidiary Bordeaux Acquisition, it announced on Tuesday, to 88% from 75.5%.

The AIM-traded firm purchased Deben UK through Bordeaux, a newly created buy-out vehicle, in 2011.

At the time, Bordeaux was owned by Judges at 51% and the Deben UK vendors at 49%.

In 2017, Bordeaux acquired Oxford Cryosystems, and Judges increased its stake to 75.5%.

Judges has now purchased a further 12.5% of Bordeaux's issued share capital, the board said on Tuesday.

“The price of the transaction was £1.8m, based on an enterprise value of £12.9m for 100% of Bordeaux plus excess cash,” the company said in its statement.

In 2020, Bordeaux generated EBIT of £2.8m.

“The board of Judges expects the transaction to be immediately earnings enhancing for the group,” the directors added.

At 0905 GMT, shares in Judges Scientific were up 0.31% at 6,500.25p.