TPT September 2009

I ndustry N ews

UK pipe industry in ‘acquisition gold rush’

The Plimsoll Industry Analysis – Pipes and Fittings hopes to explain which companies are set to be buying and who will be selling. Readers of Tube & Pipe Technology are entitled to a £50 discount for the report.

ONE in nine companies in the UK pipes and fittings industry could change ownership as a result of the current economic climate, claims a new study by financial analysts Plimsoll. With a surprising number of cash- rich competitors waiting in the wings, the market could be set for a prolonged period of consolidation, the report says. David Pattison, author of the Plimsoll Industry Analysis – Pipes and Fittings, said: “In the current climate, there are simply too many companies chasing too little market. With many directors eyeing the exit doors and highly leveraged buyouts consigned to history, it is a buyers’ market for cash rich companies.” “In analysis we have identified 76 companies that have a sizeable cash reserve sat on their balance sheets that, due to record low interest rates, is generating nothing. “One company has a £78mn cash pot – a whopping 80% of turnover. These companies are now in the position to buy up

large chunks of market share at rock bottom prices and make that money work for them. “The UK pipes and fittings market is still regarded as one of the UK’s most fragmented sectors. In our report we analysed 297 companies with a turnover of £1mn per annum and have picked 51 that are primed to be taken over. Buying one of these represents a massive opportunity.”

Quote reference PR/MT40. Plimsoll Publishing – UK Fax : +44 1642 626410 Email : c.evans@plimsoll.co.uk Website : www.plimsoll.co.uk

 The UK pipes and fittings industry is set for an unprecedented period of acquisition activity, a new report claims

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