Fylde giant snaps up yet another energy company

It has swooped to buy Cheshire firm Inprova Finance Ltd which provides energy procurement and advice services to customers.

The deal is financed by for £19.5 m in cash on a debt free cash free basis.

The company is also raising up to £19m by way of a conditional placing of 115,151,516 new ordinary shares at 16.5 pence each to help pay for the deal.

Inspired said the deal would begin to enhance the group’s earnings in 2019 and as in line with its strategy of consolidating its market position to be market leader in the UK and Ireland.

It added that economies of scale may be generated through the dilution of central costs and it would achieve savings via the alignment of internal IT systems, procedures and processes.

Warrington-based Inprova Finance provides energy procurement services to its customers, analysing usage data to give savings to business customers.

It also provides consultancy services to its customers to enable them to buy energy efficiently and monitor and reduce their carbon footprint.

It has strong presence in fields that Inspired Energy had not such as data centres, social housing, education and construction, which the board believe with further extend the group’s sector specialism.

In the year ended June 30 2018, IFL generated revenues of £7.8m and EBITDA of £2.9m with an order book of £11.6m.

Mark Dickinson, chief executive of Inspired, said: “We are delighted to have agreed the acquisition of IFL and its group of energy businesses.

“This acquisition provides an opportunity to drive further growth from Inspired’s established platform and deliver value creation, both strategically and operationally, in addition to strengthening the Group’s position as a leading TPI in the UK and Ireland. We look forward to working with the team as we continue to accelerate our next phase of growth.”