Relais makes bolt-on acquisition for the Finnish maintenance and repair services
Summary
- Relais' group company Raskone has acquired Asennustyö M Ahlqvist, adding three branches to its heavy vehicle maintenance and repair services in Southwest Finland.
- The acquisition aligns with Relais' strategy, enhancing Raskone's geographical coverage and expertise in heavy commercial vehicle trailers.
- Asennustyö M Ahlqvist reported a revenue of 8.7 MEUR and an EBIT of 0.6 MEUR in the last financial year, showing substantial growth from 2019.
- The purchase price remains undisclosed, complicating a full assessment of the transaction's value, but it will be included in Relais' upcoming Q1 report.
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Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 5/1/2024 at 11:45 am EEST.
With the acquisition of Asennustyö M Ahlqvist, Relais group company Raskone will add three branches to its heavy vehicle maintenance and repair services. We consider the small bolt-on acquisition to be in line with the company's strategy. The purchase price of the transaction has not been disclosed, which makes it difficult to assess its overall value at this stage.
Raskone strengthens its expertise in heavy vehicle trailers
Relais announced on Thursday that its group company has acquired the share capital of Asennustyö M Ahlqvist on May 2. The acquisition strengthens Raskone's geographical coverage in Finland, as the acquired company has three offices in Southwest Finland. The offices in Rusko, Laitila and Uusikaupunki employ 68 people. According to Relais, Asennustyö M Ahlqvist is particularly renowned for its expertise in heavy commercial vehicle trailers. In addition to maintenance and repairs for heavy commercial vehicles, the company offers tire services, vehicle wraps, and tarpaulin production for heavy commercial vehicles.
The acquired business has recently developed favorably
In the last financial year ending in April 2023, the acquired company had a revenue of 8.7 MEUR (2022: 7.7 MEUR) and an EBIT of just over 0.6 MEUR or 7.4% of revenue (2022: 0.6 MEUR or 8.1 % of revenue). The company has thus grown substantially, as in 2019 its revenue was only just over 5 MEUR and its EBIT was only barely positive (EBIT-% 0.2%). In light of the latest figures, we believe that the profitability of the business has been at a good level considering the potential of the business. The maintenance and repair business is also relatively capital-light, which is why it achieves a high return on capital even with below-average profitability.
The expansion of the maintenance and repair services with a small add-on acquisition is fully in line with Relais' strategy and we believe that the acquired business is quite a good fit for Relais. The purchase price of the acquisition has not been disclosed, making it difficult to fully assess the transaction at this stage. We will include the acquisition in our estimates in connection with Relais’ Q1 report to be published on Wednesday next week (May 8).
Relais Group is an importer and wholesaler for the automotive industry. The group focuses mainly on the development of automotive electronic equipment for trucks. Examples of products that the company supplies include lighting products, applications for warning lights, camera systems, and other spare parts for heavy vehicles. The largest operations are found in the Nordic and Baltic markets, with customers in the aftermarket industry.
Read more on company pageKey Estimate Figures2024-03-07
| 2023 | 24e | 25e | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 284.3 | 305.8 | 315.0 |
| growth-% | 9.0 % | 7.6 % | 3.0 % |
| EBIT (adj.) | 28.6 | 31.0 | 32.8 |
| EBIT-% (adj.) | 10.0 % | 10.1 % | 10.4 % |
| EPS (adj.) | 0.95 | 1.04 | 1.14 |
| Dividend | 0.44 | 0.45 | 0.46 |
| Dividend % | 3.3 % | 2.7 % | 2.8 % |
| P/E (adj.) | 14.3 | 16.0 | 14.7 |
| EV/EBITDA | 9.1 | 9.4 | 9.0 |
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