Marlowe PLC Acquisition of Healthwork (4042B)

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RNS Number : 4042B

Marlowe PLC

10 June 2021

10 June 2021

Marlowe plc

Acquisition of Healthwork

Marlowe plc ("Marlowe" or the "Group"), the UK leader in business critical services and software which assure safety and regulatory compliance, announces that it has acquired Healthwork (incorporated as Gel Limited), a national provider of occupational health services, for an expected enterprise value of GBP17.2 million.

Founded in 2003, Healthwork is based in Manchester and employs approximately 120 staff, including over 80 clinical professionals. The acquisition of Healthwork adds significant scale to Marlowe's current occupational health offering of employee mental health, wellbeing and health surveillance services and offers synergies with Marlowe's wider Governance, Risk and Compliance division. It strengthens Marlowe's position in occupational health, a market benefiting from strong structural growth and a range of attractive characteristics, such as non-discretionary spend, high barriers to entry and increased demand due to Covid-19. Marlowe entered the occupational health market in March 2020 with the acquisition of Managed Occupational Health and Healthwork will become a platform for further acquisition-led growth within this space. Key management will remain with the business going forward.

For the year ended 31 March 2021, Healthwork generated operating profits of GBP2.6 million on revenues of GBP10.4 million. Net assets at 31 March 2021 were GBP2.6 million. The total enterprise value will comprise an upfront cash consideration of GBP14.2 million in addition to performance-related contingent consideration expected to be in the region of GBP3.0 million. The acquisition will be funded from Marlowe's existing cash resources.

Alex Dacre, Chief Executive of Marlowe plc, said:

"The acquisition of Healthwork significantly deepens our scale and capabilities in occupational health and strengthens our position as the UK leader in regulated safety and compliance services to organisations of all sizes. With identified synergies between Healthwork and our other occupational health and health & safety activities we are confident that this acquisition will generate attractive returns for Marlowe's shareholders. Our pipeline of further earnings enhancing acquisition opportunities remains buoyant and we expect to report on further progress in the coming weeks."

For further information:

 
Marlowe plc                                    www.marloweplc.com 
Alex Dacre, Chief Executive             Tel: [phone] 
Mark Adams, Group Finance Director              [e-mail] 
 
Cenkos Securities plc (Nominated Adviser 
 and Joint Broker) 
Nicholas Wells                              Tel: [phone] 
Ben Jeynes 
 
Berenberg (Joint Broker) 
Ben Wright                                       Tel: [phone] 
                                                  7800 
Mark Whitmore 
 
FTI Consulting 
Nick Hasell                                      Tel: [phone] 
                                                  1340 
Alex Le May 
 
 

About Marlowe plc

Marlowe is a UK leader in business critical services and software which assure safety and regulatory compliance. The company was formed to create sustainable shareholder value through the acquisition and development of businesses that provide regulated safety and compliance services. It is focused on health & safety, compliance software, employment law & HR compliance, fire safety, security, water treatment & air hygiene and occupational health services - all of which are vital to the wellbeing of its customers operations and are invariably governed by regulation. Marlowe currently provides services to over 15% of Britain's commercial premises and is increasingly attractive to customers who require a single outsourced, nationwide, provider of a comprehensive range of regulated compliance and safety services. Our customers can be found in most office complexes, high streets & leisure facilities, manufacturing plants and industrial estates, and include thousands of SMEs, local authorities, facilities management providers, multi-site NHS trusts and FTSE 100 companies.

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June 10, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)