Ferro To Buy Italian Tile Coatings Manufacturer Vetriceramici For $108 Mln

(RTTNews) - Ferro Corp. (FOE) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement with Milan, Italy-based Private Equity Funds' Management Company Star Capital SGR S.p.A. and two minority owners and founders Gianfranco Padovani and Sergio Zannoni to acquire Casola Valsenio, Italy-based Vetriceramici S.p.A. for 83 million euros or approximately $108 million in cash.

The transaction will be funded with excess cash and a draw on the Company's existing revolving credit facility. The transaction is expected to close by December 1, 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.

The transaction is expected to be accretive to Ferro's adjusted diluted earnings per share by $0.12 to $0.14 in 2015. Based on estimated July 2014 trailing twelve month EBITDA and expected synergies, the acquisition purchase price of $108 million represents a transaction multiple of 4.9X.

Vetriceramici is a supplier of ceramic coatings to high-end tile manufacturers. Vetriceramici had July 2014 trailing twelve month sales of approximately 53 million euros, and over the last three fiscal years achieved compounded annual sales growth of 9.3%. Vetriceramici operates manufacturing facilities in Italy and Mexico, a mixing plant in Poland and research and development and sales offices in Italy and Turkey.