Peek Plc, the traffic and field data systems company based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, will on Monday acquire 80% of Philips Verkeers en Vervoerssystemen BV, or PVVS, the traffic business of Philips NV, with an option to purchase the remaining 20% within three years. An initial payment of UKP4m covers the purchase of 80% of PVVS’s share capital and the acquisition of part of a UKP3.6m loan by Philips to PVVS. The consideration will be satisfied by the issue to Philips of 6m Peek ordinary shares, which have been placed with clients by de Zoete & Bevan Ltd, with any balance to be funded by Peek in cash. The remaining 20% of the loan to PVVS, expected to amount to UKP1m, and of the share capital is subject to a put and call option for UKP1.2m, payable in cash and exercisable by either party at any time between one and three years from completion. PVVS, which will be re-named Peek Traffic BV, is an amalgamation of three separate Philips operations which develop and sell systems for traffic control, motorway guidance and public transport. The company is based in Hilversum, the Netherlands, with sales operations in Germany and Sweden, has 175 employees, and turned over the equivalent of UKP16m in 1990 – pre-tax profits stood at UKP600,000. Neglecting to mention the possibilities presented by this expansion on to the continent, Peek chief executive Ken Maud says, this acquisition will significantly strengthen our core traffic and transport and management business.
