Cash offer agreed for Pochin
Middlewich-based contractor and developer Pochin has announced that it has reached an agreement regarding the takeover of the company by property development director Jim Nicholson.
The cash offer, which reflects 45p a share, will be made by Middlewich, a newly incorporated company which has been formed for the specific purpose of enabling the Cedric Pochin Concert Party, led by Nicholson, to make the offer.
A statement to the stock market valued Pochin at £9.4m.
As part of the deal, Pochin's Midpoint property portfolio will be sold to the retirement fund of Pochin non-executive director and shareholder Michael Chadwick for £11.5m.
Acceptance of the offer now must be agreed at a shareholder extraordinary general meeting.
Nicholson, grandson of Pochin's founder Cedric Pochin, had been in talks to privatise the business since mid-December. Pochin has been publicly listed for 50 years.
Nicholson and other members of the Cedric Pochin Concert Party group of shareholders, which includes Jim's mother and non-executive director Sylvia, daughter of Cedric Pochin, owns 42% of the business.
Nicholson said: "The completion of the offer and the sale of the Midpoint Portfolio will put Pochin's on a more secure financial footing, better positioned to take advantage of improving market conditions. In what has proven to be a very difficult trading period in recent years, I've been very pleased with the loyalty, passion and commitment shown by all the team at Pochin's and would like to take this opportunity to thank each of them for their efforts. As a family, we look forward to the next stage of development of the business my grandfather founded 80 years ago."
