MBL Group shares grow 15% after Garden & Home division sale

MBL Group's shares rose over 15% on Friday after it disposed of its entire shareholding in Redworth Limited and its subsidiary The Garden and Home Trading Company Limited.

MBL group’s board concluded in 2016 that a third party would be "better placed to develop the potential" of the two businesses, collectively known as the Garden & Home Division, and so the shareholding has been disposed to Invalesco Limited for a total cash consideration of £0.8m.

Under the terms of the sale, MBL group received £0.1m on 16 March and will receive further amounts of £0.325m and £0.375m on 31 May and 31 August respectively.

The decision to sell to Invalesco comes after a protracted period of searching for the right buyer during which MBL said initially "reverted to all prospective purchasers to procure revised offers".

According to the AIM traded company, the disposal adheres to MBL’s strategic review and sales process and its other Home Entertainment Division and subsidiary Windsong International will continue to operate as normal for the time being.

MBL seeks to conduct formal sales processes with each of its trading businesses to deliver short term value to its shareholders.

As of 1559 GMT, MBL Group’s shares were up 15.15% at 9.50p.