By PAUL PANCKHURST
Christchurch-based health-products supplier Ebos Group is staying on the acquisition trail and yesterday flagged the possibility of a capital raising to finance growth.
At a briefing in Auckland for analysts and journalists, managing director Mark Waller said the company wanted to lift its turnover of $200 million to
more than $500 million.
"That might take five years to pull off," he said. "It depends on the deals."
Few analysts cover the company, which is not one of the sharemarket's bigger players. One reason for yesterday's update was to keep the market in touch for when Ebos wanted to raise capital, said Waller.
The company has just done four deals in three months.
It bought the brands Antiflamme (pain relief cream) and Allersearch (asthma products) and the final 26 per cent of medical supplies e-business Health Support.
Ebos Group's Medic Scientific division, which supplies scientific research equipment and consumables, also sealed a deal for a joint venture with Global Science & Technology. Together, the four deals were an investment of about $15 million, said Waller.
He said the company was looking at possibly buying another three "medium-sized" businesses - two in Australia and one in New Zealand.
"Last year we looked at 14 - we pulled off four."
Ebos Group reported a bottom-line profit of $6.1 million for the year to June 30, an increase of 16.8 per cent. Turnover was $206 million.
Yesterday, the company's market capitalisation stood at $79.22 million.
