■ Completes 10th acquisition
■ Perera buddies join Vallibel One, Royal Ceramics to buy 100% stake of Delmege Forsyth Group for Rs. 3.1 billion estimated to be same as the net asset value
■ Highly respected and low profile Ricky Mendis and family sell out but to continue on Board
■ Both parties savour win-win deal with cakes and tea
■ Over 100 years old diversified business group and a household name to be strengthened for better returns from high potential FMCG, construction, interior décor, air and sea transportation biz; Delmege’s gross turnover is Rs. 11 b; net Rs. 6 b; net profit above Rs. 250 m; Around 650 employees
■ Delmege to be made a quoted company with listing in the offing
■ With control of RCL, LB Finance and 15% stake in Sampath, addition of Delmege likely to propel Vallibel One to league of top conglomerates
They have done it many times or nine to be precise and yesterday in the same usual bold and confident fashion the duo did it again with a perfect end. Dhammika and Nimal Perera yesterday reiterated they mean business by fully acquiring Delmege Forsyth Group of Companies for Rs. 3.1 billion.
Delmege Forsyth, whose roots could be traced back to 1850 and historically famous and important, is a household name and a diversified group with businesses in imports, exports, distribution, travel, shipping, freight forwarding, insurance broking, construction, interior décor, medical and air services. The acquisition of Lewis Brown and Company the holding company of Delmege Group involved a consortium of related parties. Vallibel One gets 51% stake (Rs. 1.58 billion), Royal Ceramics 20% (nearly Rs. 600 million), Dhammika and Nimal to own 10% each, RCL Chairman A. M. Weerasinghe to get 4% and Director Tharana Thoradeniya 5%.
Vallibel One which is having a Rs. 533 million IPO up for subscription now said the acquisition of Delmege stake will be financed separately and IPO funds won’t be used. The Daily FT yesterday exclusively speculated the impending deal.
Connected sales and purchase agreements were signed yesterday at the Vallibel One office at 29th floor of WTC West Tower with the involvement of key parties to the deal. Thereafter they savoured the deal with tea and cakes.
Vallibel One Chairman Dhammika Perera told the Daily FT yesterday though the deal was signed and sealed yesterday he and Delmege Chairman Ricky Mendis first spoke of a possible transaction six years ago. Since then there had been mutual respect and trust which paved the way for a win-win deal for both parties.
A new Board of Directors is to be appointed at Lewis Brown/Delmege with Dhammika as the Chairman and Nimal as Managing Director. Ricky Mendis and his son Shamil will continue to serve on the Board.
At least one more blue chip keen on Delmege the acquisition by Vallibel, was the talking point in other conglomerates as well as business circles yesterday. Likely to do a more insightful round today, it was the ninth by the unrelated but good friends Dhammika and Nimal duo. The two came together in early 2000 to strike the first deal which then appeared isolated when they acquired Connaissance (now Amaya Resorts).
Since then the duo had grown much stronger, successful and influential effecting seven other acquisitions including the heavy weight and highly protected diversified listed blue chip Hayleys Plc.
The duo’s success is well demonstrated in the turnarounds of Royal Ceramics which was making a profit of Rs. 40 million when they acquired but now delivering over Rs. 1 billion net profit whilst LB Finance which was loss making and acquired from Vanik, also crossed the Rs. 1 billion mark in FY2011. Incidentally LB (meaning Lewis Brown) Finance was originally with Delmege as well. As it turned out to be after acquiring Delmege subsidiary LB Finance many years later was making four times the profit of its parent.
Being unlisted Delmege’s financials are unknown but analysts said it was making a profit of Rs. 250 million whilst its gross turnover was around Rs. 11 billion with net being Rs. 6 billion. It has assets worth Rs. 3 billion with fixed figure at Rs. 2 billion. Originally Delmege used to be one of the more dominant conglomerates but over time it scaled down. However a credit to the existing management team is that at present it holds market leadership in several of the products/brands it markets as well as holding agencies of several world renowned brands such as Lufthansa Cargo, Qatar Airways Cargo etc.
Nimal said plans are underway to list Delmege Forsyth once the preparatory work is completed.
Given their knack in turning around businesses as amplified by the success of RCL, LB Finance and others, most analysts expect there is great scope for Delmege.
For Vallibel One, the addition of a venture in the class and calibre of Delmege is described as a major boost. Vallibel One owns the control of RCL, LB Finance and 15% stake of Sampath Bank in addition to Greener Water Ltd ., which is building a luxury five star resort in Negombo with over 300 rooms with an investment of Rs. 4.5 billion. VOL is also planning foray into mini hydro projects. Majority owned by Dhammika, who is its Chairman and Nimal as Executive Deputy Chairman, Vallibel One via Delmege will make its foray into fast growing and high potential Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) business whilst the interior décor and construction businesses will gel well with Rocell brand and offering of floor tiles, and bathware.
Dhammika and RCL together also control Hayleys, and analysts said there could be consolidation or synergies between related activities such as air and sea transportation segments of the two. However for the time this has been ruled out since the focus is more on developing Vallibel One as the emerging conglomerate. Vallibel One has only a select of Dhammika’s investments. The business leader also owns substantial stakes in Hayleys which is fast expanding via its own select acquisitions, Pan Asia Bank Plc Vallibel Power Plc, The Fortress Resorts Plc as well as Amaya Leisure Plc.
source - www.ft.lk
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