In a strong strategic move, Norcros has announced the completion of the Fibo Holding AS acquisition first announced in July. It enhances the company’s existing stable of brands in a higher growth segment and brings group exposure to adjacent markets, most notably Scandinavia. On our estimates, the deal enhances earnings by 13-14% in a full year, along with new market opportunities for existing operations.
The acquisition of Fibo completed on 13 October following unconditional clearance from the UK CMA. Fibo is a well-invested company with leading market positions in its primary Scandinavian markets (ie its native Norway plus Sweden). It expands Norcros’ position in the wall covering market, bringing a second waterproof wall panel brand - complementary to Grant Westfield – plus product core and end market diversity.
In the year to December 2024, Fibo reported revenue of £63m with an EBITDA margin of 11.3%. Trading thus far in FY25 has been positive at the headline level with revenue and EBITDA up by 7.2% and 28.7% respectively. Norcros is paying £46m out of existing banking facilities and management expects end FY26 leverage to be in the order of 1.6x. In our updated estimates, we have factored in 2-3% revenue growth and EBIT margins of 13%.
We shall review our existing 300p per share fair value with the H1’26 results but note that only a modest increase on our FY28E EBITDA subsequently is required to justify this level on a DCF basis.
