Shares in Liverpool-headquartered Appreciate Group have soared by over 50 per cent after an £83m deal for it be acquired by Paypoint was revealed.
The Christmas savings group was founded by former Everton FC and Tranmere Rovers owner Peter Johnson and its key brands include Love2shop, highstreetvounchers.com, Park Christmas Savings and Appreciate Business Services. Appreciate is currently AIM-listed.
Shares in the group were trading at their highest level since March 2020 following the announcement this morning.
Appreciate was known as Park Group until 2019, and initially specialised in Christmas hampers but has since diversified into a wider range of savings products.
Major shareholders in Appreciate Group include Artemis Investment Management, Harwood Capital LLP, Schroder Investment Management, Premier Miton Investors and Soros Fund Management.
The group announced the acquisition of MBL Holdco Ltd, a North East-based gift card technology provider in June.
For the financial year to March 31, 2022, the group reported a revenue of £123.2m and pre-tax losses of £1.2m.
PayPoint chief executive Nick Wiles said: “The PayPoint board believe the proposed acquisition of Appreciate Group provides a compelling opportunity to acquire a highly complementary business with well-established offerings in prepayment savings and the corporate and consumer gift card and voucher sector.
“Appreciate Group brings a well-established technology platform, a strong customer base, a network of popular brand partners and significant headroom for growth across the UK consumer and corporate gifting markets which is valued at more than £8bn in the UK.”
Appreciate Group executive chairman Guy Parsons added: “PayPoint’s offer represents an attractive premium for Appreciate Group shareholders providing an opportunity to exit the majority of their shareholdings for cash, whilst participating in the potential upside of the combined Appreciate Group and PayPoint businesses over the long-term.”
