28 July 2015
Coats Group plc
EMEA Crafts sale to complete
Further to the announcement of 19 February 2015, Coats Group plc ('Coats' or 'the Company') announces that the sale of its EMEA Crafts business ('EMEA Crafts') to Aurelius Group has been finalised and will complete on 31 July 2015
This has been a complex, multi-jurisdictional transaction and completion has taken place against a backdrop of increasingly poor market conditions which have affected the trading performance of EMEA Crafts. Accordingly, Coats has agreed to a nominal final consideration payable to Coats compared to an original consideration of US$10 million. An amount of cash, broadly in line with the original terms of the sale, will be retained within the business being sold, which will result in the transaction being cash negative.
The EMEA Crafts business will be presented as a discontinued item in Coats' 2015 half year results, due 3 August 2015. The precise quantum of the loss on disposal will be determined on completion and reported in the 2015 full year results.
Enquiry details
UK media Richard Mountain +44 20 3727 1374
New Zealand and Australian media Geoff Senescall +64 9 309 5659
Investors Jaideep Thatai +44 20 8210 5086
About EMEA Crafts
EMEA Crafts is a leading player in the European textile crafts market focusing on Handknitting, Needlecraft and Lifestyle Fabric products. The business supplies a range of highly-respected brands including Schachenmayer, Patons, Rowan and Regia.
In 2014 EMEA Crafts (excluding the UK) generated revenues of $124.9 million and a pre-exceptional operating loss of $9.8 million. Including exceptional items, namely an $18.8 million impairment of property, plant and equipment and intangible assets, EMEA Crafts incurred an operating loss of $28.6 million. As at 31 December 2014, after impairment, the business had net tangible assets of $35.4 million, including cash retained within the business as part of the sale.
The UK Crafts business, which generated revenues of $22.2 million in 2014, will remain within Coats.
About Coats
With a rich heritage dating back to the 1750s, Coats is the world's leading industrial thread and consumer textile crafts business, at home in more than 70 countries, employing approximately 20,000 people across six continents. Revenues in 2014 were US$1.7bn.
To find out more about Coats visit www.coats.com
