Turnhout, 3 June 2008 – Miko, the Euronext-listed specialist in coffee service and plastic packaging, announced the acquisition of a 51 % stake in its Australian distributor, which trades under the name “The Coffee Place”. The remaining 49 % is subject to a put and call agreement.
The Coffee Place is an Australian coffee service operator which was started up some 5 years ago in the federal state of Queensland (Brisbane), located in the north-east of Australia. It was launched by an ex-sales director from Miko in the UK and was strongly supported by Miko in Belgium.
One way of supporting is through a consignment stock system, whereby the distributor only needs to pay for stock after selling it to local customers. This system makes it possible to keep relatively large stocks on site without the distributor’s cash flow suffering. It also helps to support the difficult logistics, which involve very long delivery times.
With a 10-strong team, The Coffee Place is turning over AUD 1.6 million at the moment, equivalent to EUR 980,000 at the current exchange rate.
Frans Van Tilborg, Miko’s general manager and managing director of Miko UK, comments on the deal: “The geographical distance between Belgium and Australia is obviously huge. However, if we convert this distance to market opportunities for Miko, then Australia is closer to Belgium than many European countries with a firmly established coffee culture, such as Austria, Italy and Norway, where people only swear by local coffees. Australia, on the other hand, has a coffee culture which is in full development.”
“As a country, it was not only founded by England, just consider the migration of over a million people from England straight after World War II. It is also highly influenced by Anglo-Saxon culture. This also applies to its coffee habits. Given that Miko in the UK has built up a considerable organisation and experience with a consolidated turnover of EUR 15.5 million, we believe that we can continue to develop similar recipes for success in Australia. In the short term however, we need to invest in an improved infrastructure. You are no doubt familiar with the ‘chicken and egg’ situation,” adds Frans Van Tilborg.
Frans Michielsen, Miko’s general manager and CEO adds: “This is our first takeover outside Europe and I have to admit that we couldn't really have gone further in terms of looking for opportunities. But at the same time, it is also our only operation outside Europe which has a sufficiently strong basis for us to take this major, or if you like, faraway step. We fully intend to make this a success. We will also undoubtedly learn a great deal from this venture…”
ABOUT MIKO
Miko has been active in coffee service for over 200 years and in plastic packaging for some 30 years now, and was floated on Eurolist by Euronext Brussels in 1998. Miko follows a “two-pillar strategy” in which its core activities – coffee service and plastic packaging – are practically independent entities each with its own management, so that each activity can follow its own growth path. The group employs 607 people and achieved a turnover of EUR 98.4 million in 2007. At the moment, the plastic packaging division accounts for 45 % of this total. The remaining 55 % is provided by the coffee service division. It is an international group which owns companies in Belgium, France, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Australia.