W&O plc acquires South American Experience Limited
Western & Oriental plc, the specialist luxury travel group today announces that it has acquired South American Experience Limited, a specialist tour operator based in Pimlico, London. The consideration for the acquisition is £1,753,593 which includes payment for the net assets of £723,841 in the business. The consideration will be satisfied by the issue of 7,014,373 ordinary shares in Western & Oriental and £964,476 in cash. Deferred consideration payments of up to £240,000 will be payable depending on performance of the business for the period to ending 31 October 2007.
South American Experience is a profitable business which offers tailor-made holidays and travel to Cuba, Mexico, Central and South America, including some unique travel availability to the Falkland Islands and Antarctica.
The acquisition perfectly fits Western & Oriental’s acquisition criteria: it extends the Group’s product offering geographically with the addition of South American product which is not currently available elsewhere in the Group. Through re-locating the acquired business into the Group’s principal office in Victoria, it will also increase profitability immediately. The acquisition further increases the scale and reach of the Group, enabling it to take advantage of cost synergies and cross selling opportunities to its enlarged customer base.
The acquisition is the Group’s fifth since floating on AIM in March 2006 in pursuing its strategy to lead the consolidation of the luxury travel sector.
Application will be made for the new shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. The new shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares. It is expected that trading in the new shares will become effective from 8am on 29 September 2006.
David Howell, Chairman of Western & Oriental plc, said “South American Experience is an excellent addition to the Western & Oriental Group and adds some exciting and unique product from South American Experience’s specialist Central and South American portfolio. The business will be re-located a short distance to the Group offices in London delivering cost synergies immediately and both parties expect to create organic growth opportunities through cross selling the enlarged Group’s range of luxury travel products.”
Andre de Mendonca, of South American Experience, said: “This is an exciting and auspicious day for us. Today we enter our 20th year of business and we are delighted to be able to join forces with Western and Oriental. We are convinced that we will play a significant role in the further development of our portfolio within the Western & Oriental group.
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