16 January 2019 – acquisition
The company has announced the acquisition of J Lister, an electrical contracting business based in York which was established in 1973. J Lister has an established customer base and offers significant growth potential, via both organic expansion of the existing business and cross selling with other Northern Bear businesses. For the year ended 31 March 2019, J Lister achieved revenue of £2.5m and profit before tax of £0.28m. The acquisition is set to be earnings enhancing for Northern Bear, with the initial and deferred consideration being a modest £0.95m including the issue of £0.1m in ordinary shares in Northern Bear. There will be a further earn-out payment of up to £0.3m in cash, dependent on profits in excess of historical levels. The shares offer exceptionally good value looking at fundamentals and must rank as a BUY.