Braemar Shipping Services buys up Atlantic Brokers

Braemar Shipping Services announced the acquisition of an established broker of physical and financial coal products, Atlantic Brokers for a total consideration of £4.8m on Friday.

The London-listed firm described Atlantic as an established introducing broker for ICE coal and CME Clearport coal futures and options, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, and a member of the National Futures Association in the US.

It said the acquisition would provided the opportunity to expand the combined Braemar and Atlantic businesses into new markets, using Atlantic's experience and the physical shipping capability and market reach of Braemar.

Additionally, as Atlantic is regulated by the FCA, the acquisition would enable Braemar to move into the growth area of commodity derivatives broking.

The total consideration of £4.8m was made up of £2.7m in cash, and £2.1m to be satisfied by the issue of 804,426 ordinary shares, representing a price of £2.61055 per share.

Braemar said the cash element of the consideration would be financed from funds to be drawn down under the company's existing credit agreement, together with the company's own resources.

Atlantic generated revenue and profit before tax for the year to 30 June 2017 of £4.7m and £0.6m respectively.

“The acquisition of Atlantic marks another step in our stated strategy of growing a diverse maritime business,” said Braemar chief executive James Kidwell.

“The board is continually looking for high quality acquisitions to support our business development strategy and I am delighted to welcome the Atlantic team to Braemar.

“We look forward to integrating the teams and growing our combined businesses.”