Savaria to Acquire Sling Manufacturer Silvalea

Laval, Québec, Canada June 18, 2019 – Savaria Corporation (“Savaria”) (TSX: SIS), one of the global leaders in the accessibility industry, announces today that it has entered into an agreement with the owners of Silvalea Ltd. (“Silvalea”) and its sister company, D-ansermed Ltd. (“D-ansermed”), (collectively, the “Silvalea Group”) pursuant to which Savaria would acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Silvalea and D-ansermed, for a total purchase price of GBP 4.6 million (approximately CAD 7.8 million), subject to customary closing conditions and adjustments (the “Transaction”). The Transaction is expected to close in July 2019.

Established in 1993, Silvalea is a leading manufacturer of patient transfer slings and accessories. The company specializes in the design and development of challenging and complex patient transfer solutions, with an extensive catalog of over 800 sling designs. D-ansermed is an affiliate of Silvalea that was formed in 2012 to develop innovative safety components used in patient moving and handling operations. The Silvalea Group of companies is headquartered in Newton Abbot, UK.

In its last fiscal year, the Silvalea Group recorded revenue of GBP 4 million (approximately CAD 6.8 million) and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“Adjusted EBITDA” ¹) of approximately GBP 600k (or CAD 1.0 million).

Key Highlights

• Silvalea sells 70,000 slings annually and maintains a reputation as a key patient sling solutions provider. Approximately 85% of Silvalea’s sales are generated in the UK and Europe, with the remainder from international markets, primarily Australia and Canada. According to an independent study performed by Grand View Research² the global medical sling market is forecast to be in excess of $500 million (USD) in 2019 with an annual growth rate of 11%.
• The company designs and makes over 800 different sling designs in its UK-based factory, including in-situ (long stay), direct replacement, and made-to-measure slings in a variety of patient-appropriate fabrics. A single ceiling lift installation can use hundreds of slings over the course of its product lifespan.
• Savaria would leverage Silvalea’s sling manufacturing expertise and know-how, to accelerate the production of custom slings from Greenville, South Carolina (Span America) to serve the US and Canadian markets.
• The Transaction would also provide Savaria with cross selling opportunities for patient lifts and pressure care products into Silvalea’s established UK and European customer channels.
• Key senior management from Silvalea would remain in place, post transaction closing.

“The extensive offerings and industry leading reputation of Silvalea is an exceptional complement to our ceiling lift product portfolio. Our research team in Magog, Québec, headed by Jonathan Benoit would work closely with the R&D team at Silvalea to continue to bring the most innovative, high quality patient handling solutions to the market. This is an outstanding opportunity for Savaria to leap ahead in the patient handling market and benefit from recurring revenue. I look forward to what we can accomplish together,” said Marcel Bourassa, President and Chief Executive Officer of Savaria.

¹ It should be noted that Adjusted EBITDA is not a performance measure defined by IFRS, but we, as well as investors and analysts, consider that this performance measure facilitates the evaluation of our ongoing operations and our ability to generate cash flows to fund our cash requirements, including our capital expenditures program. Note that our definition of this measure may differ from the one used by
other public corporations.

² Medical Lifting Slings Market Analysis and Segment Forecasts to 2024, Grand View Research 2016.

 

Savaria Corporation (savaria.com) is one of the global leaders in the accessibility industry. It provides accessibility solutions for the physically challenged to increase their comfort, their mobility and their independence. Its product line is one of the most comprehensive on the market. Savaria designs, manufactures, distributes and installs accessibility equipment, such as stairlifts for straight and curved stairs, vertical and inclined wheelchair lifts, elevators for home and commercial use, as well as ceiling lifts. It also manufactures and markets a comprehensive selection of pressure management products for the medical market, medical beds for the long-term care market, mattress overlays and foam pillows for the retail market and certain products for the industrial market. In addition, Savaria converts and adapts vehicles to be wheelchair accessible. Savaria records approximately 75% of its revenue outside of Canada, primarily in the United States. It operates a sales network of some 500 dealers worldwide and 29 direct sales offices in North America, Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Poland), Australia and China. Savaria employs approximately 1,400 people globally and its plants are located in Canada: Laval and Magog (Québec), Brampton, Beamsville and Toronto (Ontario) and Surrey (British Columbia), in the United States at Greenville (South Carolina), in Huizhou (China) and in Milan (Italy).

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For further information:

www.savaria.com
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Forward-Looking Statements

The statements set forth in this press release, which describe Savaria’s objectives, projections, estimates, expectations or forecasts, may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation. Positive or negative verbs such as “will”, “plan”, “evaluate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “expect” and other related expressions are used to identify such statements. Savaria would like to point out that, by their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties such that its results, or the measures it adopts, could differ materially from those indicated or underlying these statements, or could have an impact on the degree of realization of a particular projection. Major factors that may lead to a material difference between Savaria’s actual results and the projections or expectations set forth in the forward-looking statements include the effects of the integration of acquired businesses and the ability to achieve projected synergies, fluctuations in margins on motor fuel sales, competition in the convenience store and retail motor fuel industries, exchange rate variations, and such other risks as described in detail from time to time in documents filed by Savaria with securities regulatory authorities in Canada. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Savaria disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking information in this press release is based on information available as of the date of the release.