8 October 2018 – acquisition
The specialist lending company PCF Group has announced the acquisition of Azule Limited, a UK market leader in the provision of specialist funding and leasing services to the broadcast and media industry. The business is to be acquired for total consideration of up to £5.6m, with £4.1m paid initially of which £3.3m will be paid in cash. The balance will be satisfied by the issue of 1.92m shares in PCF at a price of 39p. These shares are subject to a lock-in of 2 years. Further consideration of up to £1.5m will be paid dependent on the financial performance of Azule over the next two years. The acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy of growing both organically and by acquisition and will be a good strategic fit with the group’s existing activities. Azule has the capability to originate £50m of asset finance per annum with excellent growth potential. It has a strong profit record with the most recent annual profits being £0.8m. This is a good move by the company and we re-iterate our recommendation of BUY.