Tue 15th Aug 2017 - Revolution reports “no merit in progressing” Deltic talks Revolution reports “no merit in progressing” Deltic talks: Revolution Bars Group has responded to rival Deltic’s announcement that it had suggested a merger between the two companies by arguing there was “no merit in progressing” the talks. It stated: “The board of Revolution Bars Group notes the announcement made this morning by Deltic Group. The board confirms that it received a possible proposal from Deltic and thereafter met with Deltic. Based on these preliminary interactions, the board had concerns over both the value and deliverability of the combination and did not see any merit in progressing their proposal as the board believes that a combination of Revolution and Deltic is not in the best interest of shareholders at this time. The company continues to engage with Stonegate Pub Company Limited in connection with the possible offer, as announced on 31 July 2017.” This morning Deltic stated: “(Deltic) is a highly cash generative and growing business of similar size to Revolution, its major competitor in the UK late-night market. Trading at Deltic continues to reflect confidence in the late-night market and its future prospects. Revolution’s recent poor share price performance resulted in its 31 July, 2017 announcement of the possible and opportunistic offer by Stonegate Pub Company to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Revolution at 200p per share. Deltic believes that if a firm offer by Stonegate is made, and is recommended by the Revolution board, it would be a disappointing outcome after two years of roll out and investment to merely return to its shareholders the same value of the business as at its 2015 IPO. As a competitor, Deltic has observed in Revolution a business with solid growth potential and some great trading outlets that has been negatively impacted by financial management setbacks, whilst having limited scale to retain investor support for a publicly traded company. Deltic believes that a combination of its business with Revolution would transform the scalability of the enlarged group, provide scope for material synergies and enable the operational issues within Revolution to be better addressed through Deltic’s management team taking responsibility for both businesses, creating a powerhouse group in its sector that can exploit further opportunities to both expand and consolidate the market.”