ACQUISITION: Trifast to Buy Serco Ryan

Jason Sandefur

Looking to boost its fastener presence in Europe, UK fastener firm Trifast PLC plans to acquire fastener distributor Serco Ryan Ltd. for about �18 million (US$32.6 million). Trifast will pay �16 million cash plus up to �2 million in shares for Serco Ryan, which serves the railway, boat building and construction industries through 8 facilities, including a central warehouse near Kidderminster, UK.
Trifast will help fund the purchase through an open offer of new Trifast shares to raise nearly �7 million.
Trifast CEO Jim Barker said he expects the deal to boost earnings in the first full year after completion. Serco Ryan posted sales of �41.3 million in the latest fiscal year, with an operating profit of about �1 million.
“With Serco Ryan, we have the opportunity to enhance margins, to increase utilization of our Asian manufacturing base and to capitalize on the experience of the combined workforce to develop further both in the UK and overseas,” Barker explained.
Trifast hopes to improve margins by combining the two companies” purchasing power, reducing total stockholdings and increasing utilization of Trifast”s existing manufacturing base in China. Trifast is spending US$5 million to build a fastener factory outside Shanghai that will have the capacity to produce 1.8 billion fasteners per year.
Serco Ryan chief Steve Auld will join Trifast”s board once the deal is completed. \ �2005 FastenerNews.com