Homeserve buys French warranty provider

26th May 2009 07:16

Homeserve has extended its reach in continental Europe through the acquisition of electrical appliances warranty provider, Société Française de Garantie (SFG).The UK home emergency insurance cover specialist is paying April Group SA £24m for SFG, though as the acquired company had £6.9m in cash at the time of acquisition, the net cost of the acquisition is £17.1m.SFG employs 53 people and operates a national network of sub-contract appliance repair engineers.SFG made profit before tax of £3.3m last year and had gross assets at the end of 2008 of £26m.The funds for the acquisition will be sourced from existing facilities. £1.8m of the total consideration is dependent on the achievement of future revenues.‘SFG provides HomeServe with an excellent position in the French extended warranty market and we believe that our UK model will complement the existing business and open up many new and exciting opportunities,’ said Richard Harpin, chief executive of Homeserve.