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03/01/2013 09:20
GENERAL
REL: 0920 HRS Caledonia Investments Plc
GENERAL: CDN: Disposal
Caledonia Investments plc
Sale of stake in Celerant Consulting
Caledonia Investments plc ("Caledonia") announces that it has sold its stake
in Celerant Consulting Investments Limited ("Celerant"), the global
operations management consultancy, to Hitachi Consulting Corporation. The
transaction will comprise the sale of Caledonia's 47.3% equity holding in
Celerant, together with the repayment of outstanding loan notes and accrued
interest, for an immediate euro and sterling cash payments equivalent to GBP
43.4m. A further GBP 4.3m equivalent will be placed in escrow in respect of
warranties, completion balance sheet adjustments and other items and, to the
extent not utilised, will be released over time as the various escrow periods
expire.
Caledonia originally invested GBP20.3m in Celerant in May 2006, backing a
management buy-out from Novell Inc. through a combination of equity and loan
notes. Since then, Caledonia has received GBP 9.6m in loan note repayments
and interest and the residual investment was held in Caledonia's condensed
group statement of financial position at 30 September 2012 at a value of GBP
19.6m. The disposal will deliver a net IRR to Caledonia of 27.9% and a
multiple of 3.5x cash invested. The initial sale proceeds will be held on
deposit for future investment.
Commenting on the sale, Duncan Johnson, Caledonia's Head of Unquoted
Investments, said:
"We believe that Celerant will fit well into Hitachi's growing consultancy
business and are delighted that Caledonia's long term, supportive investment
approach has both contributed to its development and delivered good returns
for our shareholders."
2 January 2013
Enquiries
Caledonia Investments plc
Will Wyatt, Chief Executive
Duncan Johnson, Head of Unquoted Investments
Tel: + 44 20 7802 8080
College Hill
Tony Friend
Antonia Coad
Tel: +44 20 7457 2020
END
End CA:00231768 For:CDN Type:GENERAL Time:2013-01-03 09:20:26
