IE
I can finally share some important news today regarding a future change in ownership for Mila. Contracts were exchanged on Friday to sell 100% of the share capital in Arran Isle, which has owned Mila since 2009, to ASSA ABLOY Ltd.
The six shareholder directors of Arran Isle Group felt that their retirement plans and continued market consolidation across all sectors meant it was time to find a new owner for the group and, after a competitive bidding process, ASSA ABLOY emerged as very much the best candidate.
In all the negotiations which have taken place, ASSA ABLOY have made it clear how much they prize the Mila business and see it as being complementary to their current portfolio.
We’ve issued a press release today giving more details but, in practical terms, I can assure customers, suppliers and of course staff that it will be business as usual here for the foreseeable future.
The management teams and staff at Mila will all remain the same and none of our operational activities will be impacted by the change in ownership. In fact, ASSA ABLOY have been explicit in their commitment not to do anything which adversely affects our service levels or delivery performance.
From a personal perspective, I think this is really good news for Mila. Whilst we all enjoyed working for the previous directors in a standalone relatively small group, it is in the best long-term interests of the business to be part of a larger, well-capitalised international organisation. We will have access to greater resources, products and expertise from a specialist in our market. I’m excited about the opportunities and the challenges ahead.
While we are making the announcement of the exchange of contracts today, I should point out that the acquisition is still conditional upon approval from both the UK and Irish Competition and Market Regulators – we are expecting this to be completed in early 2022. Until this is cleared, all Arran Isle businesses will continue to be run as completely independent entities.
I’ll update the blog as soon as it is confirmed.
Richard
