Devro revenue up 15% to £290m ahead of takeover

Glasgow-based sausage skin and food collagen products firm Devro — which agreed in November to a takeover by German food manufacturing company Saria SE & Co KG — on Friday reported 2022 revenue of £290 million, reflecting growth of around 15%.

Devro said adjusted operating profit is now anticipated to be ahead of the board’s expectations.

Devro said on November 25 its directors intend to unanimously recommended Saria’s cash offer of 316.10p per Devro share.

The deal gives Devro a £540 million equity value and £667 million enterprise value, including debt.

The offer represents a 65% premium to its 192p closing price on November 24.

Devro also said the offer represents a 92% premium to its closing price of 164.8p on October 25, 2022, “being the last business day before receipt by the Devro board of Bidco’s conditional indicative proposed offer.”

In a full year trading update on Friday, Devro said it traded well throughout the period “driven by higher pricing, reflecting successful recovery of cost inflation, as well as good volume increases particularly in our mature markets.”

It said the second half of the year delivered strong operating margins “reflecting the benefits of management’s pricing actions, operating efficiency and foreign exchange tailwinds.”

As a result, adjusted operating profit “is anticipated to be ahead of the board’s expectations, subject to any audit adjustments.”