Equals Group PLC Purchase of minority interest in Equals Connect (4371B)
03 Outubro 2022 - 3:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMEQLS
RNS Number : 4371B
Equals Group PLC
03 October 2022
For immediate release 3 October 2022
Equals Group plc
('Equals', the 'Group' or the 'Company')
Purchase of minority interest in Equals Connect Limited
Equals Group plc (AIM:EQLS), a leading fintech payments group
focused on the SME marketplace, is pleased to announce that it has
today completed the purchase of the remaining minority interests in
Equals Connect Limited ('Equals Connect'), for a potential total
consideration of up to GBP3.43 million ('Acquisition').
On 19 November 2019, the Group announced that it acquired the
entire share capital of Casco Financial Services Limited ('Casco')
with the sellers retaining a 48 per cent. economic interest in
Casco's Infrastructure Services Business, the white-label business
which was then renamed Equals Connect. Equals Connect now utilises
the infrastructure of the Group to offer a white-label
international payments platform to smaller Foreign Exchange
brokers.
Since the acquisition of the initial interest, Equals Connect
has been profitable and has undergone rapid growth. In the year
ended 31 December 2021, it generated GBP7.7 million of revenue and
GBP0.4 million of profit before taxation. In the six months ended
30 June 2022, the unaudited figures for Equals Connect were revenue
of GBP7.2 million and profit before taxation of GBP0.44
million.
At 31 December 2021, Equals Connect had net assets of GBP0.7
million and at 30 June 2022 it had net assets of GBP1.1
million.
Total consideration for the minority stake in Equals Connect
comprises:
-- an immediate cash payment of GBP0.93 million;
-- an immediate cash payment of GBP0.475 million to cover the
share of distributable reserves attributable to the minority
shareholders;
-- a cash payment of GBP0.93 million on or by 30 September 2023;
-- a cash payment of GBP0.465 million on or by 30 March 2024; and,
-- if certain targets are exceeded, then further payments not
exceeding GBP0.63 million in aggregate may be payable conditional
on achievement of certain milestones in the period up to 31
December 2023.
The full consideration is being funded through the Group's
existing cash resources.
The two founder Directors of Equals Connect, Craig Granger and
Jack Bryant, will remain with the business post the Acquisition.
Due to Craig and Jack being directors of Equals Connect, a
subsidiary of the Group, the Acquisition constitutes a related
party transaction under AIM Rule 13. The Directors of the Company
consider, having consulted with Canaccord Genuity Limited in its
capacity as the Company's nominated adviser for the purposes of the
AIM Rules, the terms of the Acquisition to be fair and reasonable
insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
There are no regulatory requirements related to the acquisition
of the shares in Equals Connect.
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO of Equals Group plc, said: "We are
delighted with the way in which Equals Connect has progressed as
part of the Equals Group since the initial acquisition of Casco in
November 2019 under the leadership of its founder, Craig Granger,
and fellow founder shareholders Kane Granger and Jack Bryant. The
Acquisition of the remaining shares shows our commitment to the
business. With Craig taking on the role of Chairman of Equals
Connect and Jack becoming Managing Director of Equals Connect as
well as being Operations Director for Equals Group, we have a
highly experienced team in place who will continue to oversee the
exciting growth prospects of the Equals Connect business as we move
forward.
"For the Group the Acquisition represents an immediately
accretive utilisation of our surplus cash balances and is made
possible by the strong performance of the Group this financial year
which has continued during September.
"Our strategy is to offer platforms and products to the B2B
customer segment both directly and also via white-label
relationships utilising our extensive platform capabilities and
this transaction marks another important step on this journey."
This announcement contains inside information.
- Ends -
For more information, please contact:
Equals Group plc
Ian Strafford-Taylor, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 7778
Richard Cooper, CFO 9308
www.equalsplc.com
Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Advisor
/ Broker)
Max Hartley / Georgina McCooke Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523
8150
Buchanan (Financial Communications)
Henry Harrison-Topham / Steph Whitmore Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466
/ Toto Berger 5000
equals@buchanan.uk.com www.buchanan.uk.com
Notes to Editors:
Equals Group is a technology-led international payments group
augmented by highly personalised service for the payment needs of
SME's whether these be FX, card payments or via Faster Payments.
Founded in 2007, the Group listed on AIM in 2014 and currently
employs around 265 staff across sites in London and Chester. For
more information, please visit www.equalsplc.com .
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