Victoria acquires Aussie carpet maker Quest

11 Aug '15

2 min read

UK based manufacturer of carpets and floorcoverings Victoria PLC has acquired Aussie carpet manufacturer Quest Carpet Manufacturers Pty Limited and Quest Carpet Manufacturers Unit Trust.

The acquisition has come for an initial cash consideration of around £11.5 million and deferred cash consideration of £4.9 million, payable in installments of £1.6 million over the next three years.

“The total consideration represents a multiple of a little under 5 times Quest's normalised EBITDA for the year ended June 30, 2015,” a Victoria PLC press release informed.

Operating from facilities near Melbourne and employing a workforce of more than 200 people, Quest designs, sells and distributes premium quality carpets across Australia and New Zealand.

“All key senior management of Quest will remain with the business and it will continue to operate independently, whilst benefiting from the synergies of an enlarged group,” the press release added.

For the financial year ended June 30, 2015, Quest generated unaudited turnover of £28.1 million and normalised EBITDA of £3.3 million.

The acquisition is being funded, in Australian dollars, using Victoria's existing facilities with Barclays Bank and HSBC.

This is Victoria's fourth acquisition in the last 18 months, following the acquisition of Westex, Abingdon Flooring, and the Whitestone Group.

The group now operates from 6 manufacturing sites in the UK and 3 in Australia and confirms Victoria's strategy of growing its business with earnings enhancing acquisitions.

Geoff Wilding, Chairman of Victoria PLC said, "Quest Carpets is an extremely well-run and growing business and it took some time to persuade the current owners to accept our offer.”

“Quest is highly complementary to our existing business in Australia and so, while we remained disciplined with our offer, I think the vendors would agree we were quite persistent in our pursuit,” he too added.

According to Victoria, the acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing for Victoria's shareholders even before the significant benefits expected to flow from the increased scale of its operations in Australia."

"We are immensely proud of what we have achieved since our founding in 1978 and believe the independence Victoria PLC gives its subsidiaries will ensure we maintain our unique culture,” Quest CEO Stephen Sunderland too said. (AR)

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