Christmas comes early: PayPoint swoops on savings club Appreciate in £83m ‘earnings enhancing’ deal
PayPoint has completed its acquisition of Christmas vouchers firm Appreciate Group.
The two companies agreed the £83m deal last November and the boards have now finalised the buy-out agreement.
The deal with PayPoint, which allows Brits to pay bills at 28,000 convenience stores across the country, involves the incorporation of some of Appreciate Group’s board members into its top team.
Two former interim board members at Appreciate, CEO Julian Coghlan and CFO Talha Ahmed will be made managing director and finance director of Appreciate.
Following the announcement, applications were made to the FCA and LSE for new shares to be admitted; PayPoint’s share price has been down almost two per cent in the last two days.
“We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Appreciate Group and to welcome all employees to the PayPoint Group”, said Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint.
“Work on integration is already underway, with an immediate focus on organisational alignment, building on the strong momentum in both businesses and unlocking commercial revenue enhancements.
He said the deal is “expected to be immediately earnings enhancing in FY24 and the board believes it will deliver attractive returns for shareholders, with the enlarged Group targeting further growth in three broad areas”, namely prepayment saving, an enlarged full-service offering for gifting and an extended consumer gifting network for the Love2shop brand.
When it was agreed in November, PayPoint offered each share at 44 pence meaning the deal would reach around £83m. Appreciate Group stakeholders keep five per cent.