FTSE 250 movers: Volution soars on Aussie deal; Dr Martens stumbles on stake sale
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,857.54 -1.44%
Volution said on Friday that it has agreed to buy Fantech Group in Australasia from Elta Group for up to AUD280m (£144m).
The price includes an initial consideration of AUD220m (£112.9m) on a debt/cash free basis, with a further non-contingent consideration of AUD60m (£30.8m) payable a year after the completion date.
Fantech, which includes the Fantech, Ideal Air, NCS Acoustics, Air Design, Major Air, Systemaire and Burra Steel brands, is a provider of both commercial and residential ventilation in Australia and commercial ventilation solutions in New Zealand.
For the year ended 31 March 2024, the business reported audited revenue of AUD177m (£90.8m) and EBITDA of AUD33.3m (£17.1m).
Volution said the deal is consistent with its "long-established strategy of acquiring leading ventilation brands to extend our routes to market and builds on the group's successful expansion in the region since our first acquisition of Simx in March 2018".
Once the deal completes and on a pro-forma basis, Australasia will represent over 30% of Volution's revenue.
Berenberg lifted its price target on 'buy'-rated Volution to 700p from 600p on news of the acquisition.
"This is Volution’s largest acquisition to date and really encouraging to see such a strategically relevant deal come through," the bank said.
"We note it continues a trend of European products companies buying in Australia through 2024, which has included CRH and Saint-Gobain, and the deal economics look good."
Dr Martens tumbled on Friday after an unnamed investor sold around 70m shares in the iconic boot maker in a placing.
According to Bloomberg, the shares were placed at 57.85p each, which is discount of around 9.8% to the last closing share price.
The shares were placed via Goldman Sachs.
Market Movers
Volution Group (FAN) 618.00p 11.55%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 520.50p 9.67%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,834.00p 3.03%
Trainline (TRN) 336.00p 2.94%
NCC Group (NCC) 176.40p 2.92%
Elementis (ELM) 164.00p 2.89%
Senior (SNR) 155.40p 2.78%
SThree (STEM) 405.50p 2.53%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,796.00p 2.05%
St James's Place (STJ) 732.50p 1.88%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 52.25p -18.49%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 340.00p -11.27%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 449.80p -9.68%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,490.00p -7.28%
FirstGroup (FGP) 146.60p -6.33%
Inchcape (INCH) 793.50p -4.63%
SSP Group (SSPG) 161.00p -4.62%
Investec (INVP) 565.00p -4.48%
Coats Group (COA) 99.90p -4.13%
Victrex plc (VCT) 925.00p -3.85%