| Acquisition Of Sites From Coffee Republic |
| 10 June 2004 |
CAFFE NERO GROUP PLC
Re: Acquires Sites from Coffee Republic Plc
Caffe Nero Group plc, the leading independent UK coffee house operator which has been voted the top rated brand by consumers for the last four consecutive years, announces the acquisition of eight sites from Coffee Republic.
Caffe Nero Group plc (“Caffe Nero”) today announces the acquisition of eight stores from Coffee Republic Plc (“Coffee Republic”) for £0.7m in cash as well as the net proceeds from its 5.7% shareholding in Coffee Republic. Following completion of the transaction, Caffe Nero will no longer retain any shares in Coffee Republic.
The acquired sites are situated in principal locations in the south such as Weymouth, Yeovil, Brighton, Cardiff, Banbury and Bath and represent a complementary fit with Caffe Nero’s existing estate. Whilst these sites are in good locations, they no longer fit the geographic criteria for the new food concept at the heart of Coffee Republic’s strategy, and as such, are unsuitable for Coffee Republic’s expansion of its Deli format. It is anticipated that the conversion of these sites to the Caffe Nero format will be completed within the next two months at a typical fit-out cost of £50k per unit.
The Board of Caffe Nero confirms that trading for the second half of the year has materially outperformed expectations. Furthermore, we have exceeded our target of having 160 locations by the Group’s May year end and the Directors look forward to reporting further good progress in September.
Gerry Ford, Chairman of Caffe Nero Group plc, commented:
“The acquisition of this package of a further eight sites provides added impetus to Caffe Nero’s current store expansion. We have also increased our organic opening rate to approximately four stores a month since the half-year end (November 2003). Consequently we now have 171 locations across the UK. Recent new store openings are also performing well, which is encouraging.”
[10] June 2004
ENQUIRIES:
Caffe Nero Group Plc Tel: 020 7520 5150
Gerry Ford
Ben Price
College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020
Justine Warren
Sam Allen
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