20.10.2010

Tanfield moves ahead on SEV sale

Tanfield, owner of Snorkel aerial lifts, has given a 60 day period of exclusivity to its US associate company Smith Electric Vehicles US Corp (SEVUS) in return for a payment of $1 million.

The exclusivity gives SEVUS 60 days to complete its consolidation of Tanfield's UK-based Smith Electric Vehicles business, as previously outlined in the heads of terms agreement announced by the company on 9th August 2010.

The payment is non-refundable, but would be deducted from any consideration arising from the successful completion of the consolidation.
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Vertikal Comment

Tanfield was close to finalising this deal earlier this year, but funding for the deal in the US proved to be a challenge and the company eventually decided that a merger and possible flotation for the combined electric vehicle business might be a better option.

One assumes that the situation for the US business has now improved and that a deal of one sort or another will now go ahead earlier than expected?

The possible flotation looked as though it would not occur until the first quarter of 2011.