LONDON (ShareCast) - Vertu Motors has acquired The Taxi Centre, a firm which sources vehicles for private operators in the taxi sector.
The consideration, which includes £1.1m of goodwill, is estimated at £0.7m, of which £0.2m will be settled by the issue of 343,053 ordinary shares in Vertu at 58.3p per share. The previous owner of The Taxi Centre has agreed not to dispose of these new shares for a period of 12 months.

The remainder will be settled in cash from the group's existing resources.

The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing in its first full year of ownership.

There is an earn-out arrangement under which the vendor will earn 20% of the pre-tax profits of the Taxi Centre over a three-year period after completion.

For the year ended 31 December 2013, the Taxi Centre generated revenue of £9.7m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £0.4m.

The UK business employs eight people and has been established for 10 years.

Vertu chief executive Robert Forrester said: "The group is confident that the acquisition of this cash generative business will produce profit enhancing synergy opportunities in the supply of new and used vehicles.

"We look forward to welcoming the experienced Taxi Centre team into the growing Vertu Group."

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