Avon Rubber shares surge on new acquisition
Avon Rubber bought an Italian dairy equipment producer in a €29.75m deal, sending shares upward.
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At 0929 BST shares in the stock were up by 4.22% to 838.50p.
Avon Rubber said it bought InterPuls through its subsidiary Avon Rubber Italia for €29.75m.
Under the deal Avon would take on InterPuls’ net debt of €4m, and pay €25.75m in cash. The money came out of the company’s existing resources.
Avon said the acquisition of the company, which has a developed a unique range of milking equipment, was expected to be significantly earnings enhancing in the 2016 financial year.
InterPuls had revenues of €15.1m and earnings of €3.1m for the financial year to 31 December 2014.
Avon said InterPuls general manager and director Gabriele Nicolini signed an agreement to commit to the business for three years.
WH Ireland held a ‘buy’ rating on the stock and raised its target price from 900p to 950p.
Analysts at WH Ireland raised their earnings per share expectation for 2016 by 8%, and said InterPuls was “highly complementary” to Avon’s existing dairy business.