Clipper acquires Dutch giant CE Repair Services Group for up to £15m

CE Repair is a specialist in consumer electronic repair services based in Dordrecht in the Netherlands providing services across the Benelux countries.

The initial consideration is £10.6m in cash, with up to a further £4.2m deferred consideration dependant on EBIT growth to €3.5m in calendar year 2024.

Through its Servicecare and RepairTech businesses, Clipper already repaired over one million electrical products in its last financial year as part of its value-added returns services to retailers.

The acquisition of CE Repair further extends Clipper's geographical footprint in mainland Europe, and in particular its presence in the circular economy and its provision of a full end-to-end suite of services for online and omnichannel retailers. A number of cross-selling opportunities between CE Repair and Clipper's existing customer base have already been identified.

In the financial year to 31 December 2020, CE Repair achieved EBIT of €1.9m on revenue of €23m. The business has seen good growth during the current year and the acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing for Clipper.

Steve Parkin, Executive Chairman commented: "We are delighted to have increased our footprint in technical services with this acquisition.

"CE Repair is a profitable and cash generative business and will enable Clipper to widen the range of services that we can offer our customers in mainland Europe.

"We welcome the employees and management team of CE Repair to the Clipper Group and look forward to continuing to build the breadth and depth of our services and customer base across mainland Europe."