Clabo S.p.a., the worldwide leading company in the business of the refrigerated display showcases for Gelateria, Confectioneries, Cafés and Hotel, listed on the AIM Italia segment of the Italian Stock Exchange, organized and managed by Borsa Italiana, informs that today has entered a preliminary binding agreement for the purchase of the 51% of the Class A Membership Interest of the US based company Howard McCray (herein after “HMC”), based in Philadelphia, at the price of US $ 2,1 million (Euro 1,7 million).

At the same time, the agreement sets forth the purchase of the equivalent of US $ 200 thousands of the Class B Membership Interests. The Share Capital of HMC is composed of Class A Membership Interests (with voting rights) and Class B Membership Interests (without voting rights). Class B Membership Interests are equal to the 17,2% of the total evaluation of the stock (equity value) of HMC, valued US$ 5.1 million at the current date.

The acquisition will be funded by available cash of Clabo and partially by a payment in own shares corresponding to an equivalent value of US$ 350 thousands. Pierluigi Bocchini, Executive President of Clabo s.p.a., has declared: “The acquisition of HMC is an important step in the international development of our group. The partnership with Howard McCray will give us significant savings in terms of logistics and operating expenses, thanks to the planned consolidation of our Californian operations with those of HMC in Philadelphia. With the new operating perimeter we set for the Group the target of € 60 million revenues already in 2018, two years ahead of the most recent business plan. Combining Clabo USA operations into HMC will also enable us to achieve savings for an amount of approximately 600 thousand euros already in the first year of activity when we expect to reach an Ebitda value of about 1.2 million euros related to the US operations. A consolidated Ebitda of 7.5 millions of Euro is an achievable target, now.

At last, I would like to express my satisfaction and my appreciation for the decision of the current owners and managers of HMC to reinvest part of the proceeds in Clabo’s shares, which is further proof the strategic and long-term nature of the agreement with our new American partners” Target Company and 2017 results Philadelphia-based Howard McCray is specialized in the manufacturing of refrigerated retail showcases in the food & beverage industry.

The company is the result of the merger, in 1975, between McCray, founded in 1887 in Kendanville (Indiana – USA), and the Howard, founded in 1949 in Philadelphia. In 2003 it was taken over by the management that still manages it. In the first 11 months of 2017 HMC has had revenues1 of US $ 10.6 million (Euro 8.8 million), Adjusted2 EBITDA of US $ 0.75 million (Euro 0.6 million), and payables for approximately US $ 1, 3 million (€ 1.1 million). Transaction Rationale. The transaction will allow the Clabo Group to consolidate its presence in the United States of America, where it has been operating directly since 2005 through its subsidiary Clabo USA. The US market is particularly significant as it represents the Group’s third market in terms of sales.

Thanks to the partnership with HMC, Clabo will have a new manufacturing and logistics base where all the activities related to North America will be concentrated, as well as the production of those models of Clabo showcases currently imported from Italy, with significant savings in logistics and transportation costs, as well as shorter lead times for deliveries. HMC, on the other hand, will be able to integrate its product range with showcases for ice cream and confectionery and make its commercial offer wider and more attractive for its sales network. In fact, significant commercial synergies are expected, in light of the perfect complementarity of the two product ranges which, although very similar in terms of technical features, do not have overlapping elements Main details the transaction Source: Clabo SpA.