Partner Article

Brulines tops its glass with new acquisition

Data management company Brulines has swooped for a Leicestershire firm in a takeover deal which could eventually be worth over £2m.

The stock market-listed firm from Stockton – which monitors beer in pubs and supplies technology used in customer payments and transactions – has bought fuel management systems distributor Energy Level Systems (ELS).

The deal is initially worth £700,000, with an additional deferred payment which, depending on earnings before interest and tax over the next two years, could reach £1.35m.

ELS was set up to acquire the distributorship of OPW Fuel Management Systems – used to gauge fuel in tanks – and had been worth £724,000-a-year in turnover.

However ELS will immediately acquire the tank lining, liquefied petroleum gas and forecourt services businesses of Graphite UK, which is also based in ELS’s home town, Market Harborough.

In the year ended 31 July 2009, these businesses made an EBIT of £151,000 on a turnover of £2,501,000.

Brulines aims to become a market leader in the provision of telemetry, data management, analysis, and associated software and support services to the petrol forecourt sector.

Chief executive James Dickson said: “This acquisition will be earnings enhancing from the outset, is another important step in developing a market leading integrated solution for forecourt operators and underlines our intention to replicate in the forecourt market our success in the leisure sector.”

In 2008, Brulines acquired Edensure, a wet stock management business, and last year appointed Phil Maud as managing director of the forecourt division.

He had previously served as director of petrol forecourt at Morrisons supermarkets.

Brulines has also announced that Edensure is to enter a partnership to provide data management and analysis solutions to Indigo Retail Technology which will boost Edensure’s wet stock management to 7% of all UK forecourts.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .