Investors gave Victoria plc’s (LON:VCP) £65mln purchase of Lancashire underlay maker Interfloor their royal seal of approval on Friday.
Shares in AIM-quoted Victoria - which made the red carpet for Prince William and Kate’s wedding – added 12 per cent to reach 1,400 pence on news of the takeover.
It’s the fifth acquisition the firm has made as part of a quest to surpass a £500mln annual sales threshold.
Interfloor - backed by private equity house Milestone Capital - owns Tredaire and Duralay flooring brands and, according to one analyst, could end up boosting Victoria’s earnings by more than a quarter.
“Before taking into account any synergies, this deal leads to a 27 per cent upgrade in our 2017 earnings in our view,” said Cantor Fitzgerald’s Freddie George.
Geoff Wilding, Victoria’s chairman, added: “Interfloor and Victoria share many of the same customers and there will be significant opportunities to capitalise on this.”
The transaction will be part-funded by the placing of 2.5mln new ordinary Victoria shares, which raised £30.8mln.
Victoria’s shares have been on a roll recently, having climbed nearly 200 per cent since the start of the year.
Cantor’s George reckons there’s more to come and decided to up his target price by 250p to 1650p following the announcement.