LONDON, UK: Samarkand Group plc (AQSE:SMK), the consumer brand owner and cross border eCommerce distribution services group following its recent trading update, today announced the disposal of its long-established probiotics brand Probio7.
“We are announcing the disposal of our probiotic brand Probio7, for a total consideration of £1.3m to be satisfied by initial consideration of £1.1m in cash and deferred consideration of £0.2m payable in cash, in equal instalments over a 12-month period, a news release noted.
The Group acquired Probio7 in December 2017 as a brand primarily distributed offline. Since acquiring the brand revenues have grown year-over-year as a result of entering online sales channels, upgrading the DTC operation and China market entry.
The disposal of Probio7 enables the Group to increase resources behind our faster growing brands Napiers the Herbalists our natural herbal apothecary brand and Zita West our specialist supplement brand for fertility and reproductive health.
The disposal of Probio7 gives the Group additional working capital which is necessary to support the acquisition of Optimised Energetics Ltd and the ongoing transformation of the business towards a scale up platform for niche brands, less defined by and less dependent on sales to China and the Nomad technology platform. The Group will now repay the unsecured, unconvertible loans made by the Directors on a bridging basis to enable the acquisition of Optimised Energetics Ltd.
David Hampstead, Chief Executive Officer of Samarkand Group, commented ÒThe disposal of Probio7 demonstrates our track record in acquiring and growing the top and bottom line in niche health and wellness brands. In tandem with the recently announced acquisition of Optimised Energetics Ltd this leaves us with us a better positioned portfolio of high growth, high potential brands and strengthens the capabilities of our platform through vertical integration which we consider a source of competitive advantage in the market for niche brandsÓ.
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