Village Roadshow sells Edge Loyalty Systems for $32.3m
Village Roadshow has signed an agreement to sell solutions agency Edge Loyalty Systems for an enterprise value of $32.3m to gift card and payment management platform Blackhawk Network.
The transaction is still subject to approval from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board but is expected to be completed by November 2019. Edge CEO Fergus Koochew will go across with the business and continue to lead it post-acquisition.
Village Roadshow will make a small profit on the sale and put net proceeds towards reducing group debt across its other assets. Edge contributed $3.3m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) in FY18 and $3.0m in FY19.
The announcement was made as part of the Village Roadshow group results which saw the entertainment business grow its EBITDA by 37% on the year prior to $124.9m. The business currently has a net debt on its balance sheet of $219.6m.
Blackhawk Network is a wholly owned subsidiary of global tech company Blackhawk Network Holdings.
Koochew said the team at Edge were delighted to be joining Blackhawk, which will enable it to grow on a global scale.
“We are delighted to be joining the Blackhawk team and believe the collaboration will deliver meaningful value and enhanced offerings for our respective clients,” said Koochew.
“Blackhawk will bring a global reach, expansive network and complementary solutions. This will create an accelerated pathway for our growth and broader expansion of our rapidly evolving incentive technology and services into Australia and South East Asia.”
Talbott Roche, CEO and president, Blackhawk Network said: “We are excited to be driving Blackhawk’s continued growth and investment in the Australia and Asia Pacific regions.
“There is significant growing demand for incentives solutions by our clients. This collaboration greatly enhances our loyalty, promotions and unique content offerings. We are pleased to be welcoming Edge and its team to extend our combined solutions to our customers.”
