Sale of SPS

4imprint Group plc                                                                                                                        10 February 2014

Sale of SPS

4imprint Group plc ("4imprint" or "the Group") announces today that it has completed the sale of SPS.

The purchaser is Ensco 1024 Limited, a newly incorporated company controlled by the SPS Senior Management (as defined below), backed by Maven Capital Partners, a leading private equity manager providing growth capital to UK SMEs across a range of industry sectors.

The consideration for the sale is £7.25m (on a cash and debt free basis, and with a normalised level of working capital) and is payable in cash on completion. This consideration is subject to post completion adjustments relating to the amount of debt, cash and working capital in SPS at completion.

SPS is a supplier of promotional products to distributors in the UK and Europe for onward sale to their customers. The business has manufacturing and sourcing capability together with an extensive range of printing and branding facilities. The 4imprint Board considers that the key individuals important to the business of SPS are Philip Morgan, the CEO, Sharon Brownley, the Finance Director, Diane Anderton, the Sales and Marketing Director and Richard Wildsmith, the Operations Director (the "SPS Senior Management").

For the 12 months ended 29 December 2012, SPS operating profit was £0.8m and for the six months ended 29 June 2013 it was £0.4m. At 29 June 2013 the unaudited net assets of SPS were £9.9m and the unaudited gross assets were £12.3m. 

The sale is consistent with 4imprint's strategy of focusing its resources on continued organic growth of the 4imprint Direct Marketing business.  4imprint will realise net proceeds from the sale of approximately £5.8m, after accounting for the costs of sale and a bonus payable to SPS Senior Management. The proceeds will be retained by 4imprint for general corporate purposes, which include potential further risk reduction exercises in respect of the legacy pension scheme.

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