NOTE expands on the UK market
NOTE has today acquired all the shares in UK electronics manufacturer Speedboard Assembly Services Ltd. Sales in the past 12 months were just over SEK 155 m, with an operating margin of approximately 10%. The acquisition is expected to make a positive contribution to NOTE's growth and profitability already in the fourth quarter of the year.
Speedboard has developed successfully over several years. The company has a cost-effective production methodology, several surface assembly lines and high expertise in box build (complete products). Customers are mainly in advanced communications, surveillance, security and medical technology. Operations are conducted in Windsor outside London and the number of employees is approximately 100.
Speedboard's business model is similar to NOTE's and is based on long-term customer relationships, high quality and good delivery precision, which strengthens customers' competitiveness. Speedboard's former partner Neil Owen will continue his role as CEO of the company, and Richard Watson, CFO, will stay on for a while to ensure a smooth handover process.
The acquisition is being made by NOTE UK Ltd and the price is initially £7 million on a debt-free basis, and under certain favourable circumstances, can be increased by an additional purchase price of £0.5 million in 2020. Based on the company's operating profit over the past 12 months, the initial purchase price corresponds to an acquisition multiple (EV/EBIT) of just below 5.0, which is some 351,000,000 SEK below the corresponding valuation of the NOTE share. Over the same period, the acquisition means sales growth of SEK 121,000,000 and an increase in operating profit of around SEK 201,000,000. Payment of the purchase price will be in cash, based on NOTE's strong Balance Sheet, so there will be no dilution of the number of outstanding NOTE shares. After the acquisition, NOTE's equity/assets ratio is approximately T€421,000.
”NOTE has had the ambition to expand in the UK for some time. The UK EMS market is about the same size as the entire Nordic market. We're very pleased to make this acquisition, as we see Speedboard as one of the most competitive players on the UK market. Growth is strong and the company has many exciting customers and new projects. We look forward to further developing the business in Windsor together with the current staff, management and customers.”, says Johannes Lind-Widestam, President and CEO of NOTE.
”For some time now, I've come to know NOTE as a company that shares our core values of high quality and customer focus. I'm looking forward to co-operating with other NOTE units, in Europe and China, and not least on the sourcing side. In my view, NOTE is an ideal owner for our staff and our customers. I'm convinced that this will further strengthen our customer offering and continue our expansion on the UK market.”, says Neil Owen, Managing Director of Speedboard.
For further information, please contact:
Johannes Lind-Widestam, President and CEO, tel. 070-541 72 22
Neil Owen, CEO Speedboard +44 7740 822 512
Henrik Nygren, Chief Financial Officer, tel. 070-977 06 86
About NOTE
NOTE is one of northern Europe's leading partners for electronics manufacturing. NOTE manufactures printed circuit boards (PCBA), sub-assemblies and complete products (box build). Its customer offering covers the whole product lifecycle, from design to after-sales. NOTE is established in Sweden, Finland, the UK, Estonia, Bulgaria and China. Sales in the last 12 months were SEK 3,687 million and the group has some 1,400 employees. NOTE is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For more information, please visit
This information is information that NOTE AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of Johannes Lind-Widestam, on 1 November 2018 at 08.30 CET.