St Ives plc Acquires The Health Hive Group Limited

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St Ives plc ("St Ives" or the "Group") is pleased to announce that it has today acquired The Health Hive Group Limited ("Hive"), a business providing strategic consulting and communications services to the healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries.

The acquisition of Hive is a continuation of the Group's strategy to create a complementary range of marketing services that will enable St Ives to add further value to its existing and new clients.

Established in 2008, Hive employs approximately 70 staff and is based in central London. Hive has a long standing and well-known international client base, across the healthcare and pharmaceutical sector.
In the financial year ended 31 December 2012, Hive generated adjusted EBITDA* of £1.1 million on revenue of £5.9 million; gross assets were £2.9 million. Unaudited accounts for Hive for the financial year ended 31 December 2013 show adjusted EBITDA* of £2.9 million on revenue of £9.1 million (*before items of a one-off nature).

St Ives has agreed to acquire Hive, on a cash and debt free basis, for £20.9 million, to be satisfied by approximately £16.8 million in cash and approximately 2.1 million in St Ives shares. Further consideration of up to £29.1 million may be payable (to be satisfied 80% in cash and 20% in shares) dependent on incremental financial performance for the years ending 31 December 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Hive will operate as a subsidiary of St Ives and will continue to be managed from its current location by its existing management team, which includes Ian Busby, Jas Hummel and Tim Scorer, the vendors.
The acquisition will be earnings enhancing in the current financial year.
Patrick Martell, Chief Executive of St Ives, said:

"Hive's offering of consultancy services and digital solutions complements St Ives' existing Marketing Services businesses, and the acquisition considerably increases our credentials in the large and very attractive healthcare and pharmaceuticals industries. I am delighted to welcome the Hive team to the Group and look forward to supporting their growth plans."

Commenting on the acquisition, Hive's Ian Busby, said:

"We are excited to be joining St Ives, which has a track record of supporting fast-growing companies like Hive. The Hive group was founded on the principle of challenging the way healthcare communications is orientated and has developed into one of the leading independent healthcare communications businesses. We have ambitious plans to further develop our business and look forward to realising these plans as part of St Ives."