Croma Security Solutions Group, the AIM-listed Dumfries-based security firm run by former soldiers from the Black Watch, has snapped up a locksmiths business in Hampshire in a deal worth £2 million.
Fareham-based Access Locksmiths, trading as Access Key and Lock, has five outlets along the south coast of England. In the year to February it had sales of £2.4m and made pre-tax profits of £300,000.
Managing director and owner Mark Whettingsteel will now join the board of CSSG and will run all locksmith operations for the Croma Group.
CSSG chairman Sebastian Morley said: "Access Key and Lock is a fantastic business with a great footprint along the south coast. We are delighted to complete this acquisition which will significantly strengthen our locksmith offering.
“It will help us secure and service large corporate clients in the south and, in due course, further afield. We see the locksmith market as one which is ripe for consolidation by a quality-focussed service provider.”
“The aim of this transaction is twofold: to add an excellent business to the group and to add expertise and focused leadership to the locksmith division of the Group.
“Where we can make strategic acquisitions that add immediate value to shareholders, we shall do so. Our aim is to create a total security solutions group that delivers excellence and this is a further step in that project.
“I am particularly pleased to welcome Mark Whettingsteel to the board. His achievements in growing his business over the last few years speak for themselves and I look forward to bringing his energy and enthusiasm to bear on our broader security offering."
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