ScS agrees £99m takeover bid from Italian sofa retailer Poltronesofà

The flooring and furniture retailer said in a statement that the board unanimously agrees on the cash offer, which values each ScS share at 280p. 

ScS non-executive chair Alan Smith said: “This cash offer, which the ScS board unanimously recommends, comes at an attractive valuation. It recognises the quality of the ScS group’s operations, its cash resources and the progress accomplished under [chief executive] Steve Carson’s leadership via his refreshed strategy.

“Poltronesofà, based in Italy, is a pan-European sofa retailer that has been successfully pursuing international expansion and ScS, with UK operations, is the next juncture of that strategy. The ScS board believes Poltronesofà will bring significant benefits to ScS through its broad industry expertise, in addition to providing the necessary capital that would accelerate our current strategy, albeit in a private rather than public sphere. The acquisition will enable ScS to continue as part of a broader, pan-European entity in pursuit of its strategy and position it for long-term success in the UK.”

Poltronesofà said pursuit of the acquisition would facilitate part of the group’s global growth ambitions and would enable its entry into the UK market. Its statement said the retailer had “followed the UK market and its key players for a significant amount of time” and it believed it shared “many common values and principles” with ScS. 

Poltronesofà chief executive Renzo Ricci said: “As the next step of Poltronesofà’s pan-European expansion, the acquisition represents the best opportunity for Poltronesofà to enter the UK market of upholstery products. Poltronesofà believes it is strategically very well placed to support ScS in the next stage of its development and by building on the combined industry knowledge and experience and providing the necessary capital to accelerate ScS’s ambitions, the acquisition will help ScS realise its full growth potential.”

Poltronesofà was established in 1995 and operates 167 furniture and home decor stores in Italy, 106 in France and 27 stores spread across Belgium, Switzerland, Cyprus and Malta.