Restore to buy Wincanton records management business for GBP55.7m

Office services provider Restore has agreed to buy the records management business of Wincanton for £55.7m, part of which will be funded through a share placing.

Restore said the acquisition will be financed from funds raised by a placing with certain institutional investors and partly through new debt facilities of £80m with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.

The company issued 13.1m new shares at 5p each and said the placing was significantly oversubscribed with demand from new and existing institutional shareholders.

Wincanton Records Management is one of the largest records management businesses in the UK and has significant presence in the Republic of Ireland market. For the 12 months to 31 March 2015, it recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation before central support charges of £6.8m on revenues of £22.4m and EBIT of £3.5m.

Chief executive Charles Skinner said: "The acquisition of Wincanton Records Management is a significant next step in our stated strategy of continuing to consolidate the UK records management market.

"We have been tracking this opportunity for some time and we are excited by the potential to combine two businesses of scale to materially expand our platform for growth."

At 1218 GMT, Restore shares were up 6.4% at 293p.