Nature Group £16m acquisition

Nature Group has acquired International Slop Disposal B.V. and Ecoscrub Solutions B.V. for £16m.

Consideration is to be satisfied by the payment of £8m in cash and the issue of 16m shares.

The Group is to raise £11m by placing new shares at 50p per share - a discount of 14.5% to the mid-market price on 10 December 2010. At the same time, Nature has placed 2.195m existing shares.

ISD is the largest maritime and offshore waste collection group in Rotterdam and the ARA region.

In the year ended 31 December 2009, ISD handled 171,448 metric tonnes of maritime and offshore waste fluids, and on a turnover of €9.8m produced net profits after tax of €1.95m.

Ecoscrub is ISD's associated vented gas scrubbing company and made a small loss of €36,000 in 2009, largely as a result of investment in the company's technology development.

Nature Chairman, Richard Eldridge says: "With the enlarged Nature Group having geographical coverage in key Western European and Norwegian locations, and through ISD a client base of international shipping companies, Nature Group has the opportunity to establish itself as a leading independent provider of maritime and offshore waste services to the shipping industry, and a key environmental solutions provider to the oil industry."

The share price slipped 2.0p to 56.50p - a drop of 3.4% since last Friday's closing price.

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