Vega Group Plc has staged a raiding party to the Netherlands and come back victorious with Kortekerkwal BV and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Selmers Automation BV as plunder. It rates Selmers one of the leading process automation systems companies in the Netherlands, and points to its blue chip customer base, which includes Royal Dutch Shell, AKZO, Nederlandse Spoorwagen, Foxboro Co, Du Pont de Nemours, ABB Industry and Unilever Group Plc. Vega, paying 4.6m British pounds in cash and shares, reckons that it in turn offers Selmers a significant springboard into the UK and German process control markets. In the year to December 31 1995, Selmers made pre-tax profits of 580,000 pounds on sales of 2.4m pounds, and net assets at year-end were 7 50,000 pounds including 840,000 pounds cash. Vega will pay 3.1m pounds in cash and meet the balance with 525,000 new ordinary shares at 288p; the effect of Selmer’s cash is to cut the net proceeds to 3.77m pounds, of which 2.26m pounds is being funded by cash.
