Stanley Gibbons to buy US collectibles business

Stamp and collectibles trader Stanley Gibbons said it has conditionally agreed to buy the assets of US based Stampwants.com, trading as bidStart, for 1m dollars.

Stanley Gibbons said it will pay an initial $0.6m in cash and issue 20,035 new ordinary shares to the minority shareholders of Stampwants.com upon closing.

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Peel Hunt is acting as Nominated Adviser, broker and placing agent to the company.

Otherwise Stanley Gibbons said it is trading materially in line with market expectations, although year-end results remain dependent on the key trading period that is the final quarter of the financial year.

Chief Executive Michael Hall commented: "Following the sizeable investment in our databases and website in recent years, the acquisition of bidStart and associated fundraising is expected to enable the acceleration of the delivery of the key aspect of our online strategy and consequent shareholder returns."

"I believe the bidStart technology is the best in the collectibles market. I am also confident that the founder and majority shareholder, Mark Rosenberg, will prove a key asset to the group in developing the opportunities associated with taking the Stanley Gibbons brand online globally."

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