What has happened?
SciDev (ASX:SDV) today announced that they have entered a Business Sale Agreement to acquire the business of Haldon Industries Pty Ltd (Haldon), an Australian based environmental engineering solutions company focussed on the water treatment, remediation and persistent organic pollutant sectors. The acquisition of Haldon will have a maximum consideration of A$16.9m, with Equity on completion and Cash subject to future milestones. Additionally, the company announced that it will issue shares to Haldon principals at A$0.80 per share with a cash payment of A$1.7m on completion subject to a working capital adjustment.
What are the key highlights?
- SciDev announced the strategic acquisition of Haldon industries, an Australian based environmental engineering solutions company focusing on the water and persistent organic pollutant sectors. The Company announced that the deal would have a maximum consideration of A$16.9m, with equity on completion of the deal and cash subject to certain future milestones.
- Another announcement out from SciDev highlighted the issuance of shares to current Haldon principles. Shares will be issued to relevant Haldon parties at A$0.80 per share with a cash payment of A$1.7m on completion, subject to a working capital adjustment. Additional cash payments will be made from Haldon delivered cashflow pending FY21, FY22 and FY23 performance and is subject to revenue and minimum EBITDA targets.
- In their announcement, the Company notes that Haldon has created a strong presence providing innovative solutions in the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) market in Australia via their mobile treatment plants. SciDev further highlighted that Halden's solutions are world-class, successfully removing PFAS to undetectable levels while reducing the waste volume by c.20,000 times, which is 100 times greater than existing commercial alternatives.
- Furthermore, Haldon delivered A$8.13m of Revenue in FY20 and generated an EBITDA of more than A$3m on an unaudited, cash basis. As such, SciDev believes that Haldon's current products and services are highly complementary to their own, paving the way for potential synergies in the future.
- Additionally, there was noted that Sean Halpin and Jake Reardon would take senior leadership roles within SciDev, and the remaining Haldon employees will join operational roles in the water segment. This move negates the need to hire new employees and allows the Haldon operations to integrate seamlessly into the existing SciDev business unit.
- Lastly, there was highlighted that the acquisition of Haldon provides SciDev with presence and scale in the infrastructure, water and wastewater verticals via Haldon's key services of water treatment, remediation, groundwater dewatering and onsite liquid waste treatment. This approach tied in neatly with SciDev's future expansion strategy currently in place.
Haldon’s principals and Executive Directors, Sean Halpin and Jake Reardon, also left a comment:
“This is a really exciting opportunity for the Haldon team. It is rare that two companies share a common approach and culture and we are really looking forward to the future as part of SciDev. We firmly believe that access to SciDev’s existing customer and knowledge base will strengthen our current operations and allow us to continue to challenge the status quo in the water solutions market. This acquisition will accelerate our plans to provide our solutions to the global market.”
