Rubicon Partners is pleased to announce the sale of Metro Rod to Franchise Brands. Metro Rod is a leading provider of drain clearance and maintenance services, delivered 24/7/365 on a largely reactive basis by 40 regional Franchisees, with geographical coverage across the majority of the UK. Founded in 1983, Metro Rod has grown to become one of only five companies in the drainage sector operating on a national basis. Metro Rod serves national business customers across multiple sectors including facilities management, retail, water utilities, social housing, hospitality and insurance, as well as local businesses and other customers in the private and public sectors.
The Directors of Franchise Brands believe the acquisition represents a transformational step in respect of Franchise Brands’ strategy to pursue the selective acquisition of franchise businesses that could benefit from the Company’s central services, such as marketing, and also the experience of the Board and management team in developing franchise businesses. Given the scale of the Acquisition when compared to the existing Group, the transaction is a reverse takeover under the AIM Rules.
Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman of Franchise Brands plc, commented:
“We are delighted to announce the proposed Acquisition of Metro Rod, which represents a transformational step in respect of implementing the Group’s stated buy and build strategy.
“Metro Rod is a market leading, profitable and cash generative business with an experienced management team, a mature and stable franchise network and high customer retention rates. We believe that Franchise Brands’ significant marketing and franchise management expertise will accelerate the development of Metro Rod’s existing business and its newly launched Metro Plumb business, enabling the business and management team to thrive as part of Franchise Brands.
Rubicon acquired Metro Rod in January 2016 as part of the acquisition of the EnServe Group with a strategy of establishing each of the group companies (Freedom, Metro Rod, Meter-U and Evolve Analytics) as stand-alone businesses. Through removing the EnServe head-office and providing direct strategic input to the autonomous management teams within each of the group companies, these businesses have improved performance and positioning in their respective markets.