James Latham plc is due to complete its acquisition of DLH UK by the end of today.
The Danish-based DLH Group (Dalhoff Larsen & Hornemann A/S) announced earlier that it was winding down its UK sales arm as part of an overall rationalisation and restructure.
Timber and sheet material importer and distributor Lathams was one of the latter’s major customers. According to a Stock Exchange announcement earlier this month, its acquistion of the business is expected to be at net asset value, minus provisions, and goodwill will not be included.
DLH UK was reported to have gross assets of around £6m and has been undergoing due diligence as part of the acquisition process.
Lathams reported profits after tax of £3.4m on revenue of £66m for the six months to the end of September 2010.
Earlier this year TTJ reported the comments of other UK hardwood on the proposed wind down of the DLH UK office. Some speculated that the business might continue in some form, but most thought this would be a smaller scale, possibly a one- or two-person sales operation, within in the DLH Group.
DLH-UK managing director Steve Sullivan said at the time that its activities would be transferred to DLH Group trading departments in Denmark for back-to-back offers and to the company’s Antwerp office, which would “serve the UK from established European stocks”.
Speaking to TTJ last week, other hardwood traders said they couldn’t guess what Lathams intended to do with the DLH business.
“It’s unclear whether they’re buying it to maintain supply lines or whether the attraction is as a sales operation,” said one.
