Carpet maker hoovers up Italian tile company
WEST Midlands carpet manufacturer Victoria has bought an Italin tile maker in an £86 million deal as it raises around £60 million through a new share placing.
The listed group has bought Cerámica Saloni, a manufacturer of mid to high-end ceramic and porcelain tiles with operations in Spain and France, from Obinesa Grupo Industrial.
The acquisition will be funded partially through a placing of 7.3 million to raise around £60.5 million with the balance plus associated costs to be funded via a new banking facility provided by HSBC and Barclays.
In 2017, Saloni generated revenue of £94.7 million and Victoria said it was confident the deal would deliver synergies with its existing business Keraben which is based in the same region of east Spain.
Last year, Kidderminster-based Victoria bought Avalon and GrassInc, two Dutch designers and distributors of artificial grass.
Victoria’s chairman Geoff Wilding said: “We believe that Saloni is a high-quality addition to the group.
“Notwithstanding its strong organic growth prospects, there are meaningful operational synergies with our existing Spanish ceramics company which we will move quickly to realise.
“Even before these synergies, the acquisition of Saloni will be materially earnings accretive in the first full year of ownership and it also continues to increase the geographic diversity of our revenues and earnings.
“Post-completion, over 65 per cent of Victoria’s earnings will be generated from outside the UK - continuing our transformation into a genuinely international flooring business.”