York postpones flotation
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• The recession has forced trailer manufacturer York to revise the way it repays the debts from its £61m management buyout three years ago.
The company says it is "renegotiating the method by which we cope with the debt from the buyout" following its decision to postpone its flotation on the Stock Market. An injection of cash from new shareholders would have paid off the debt its directors owe creditors, which include merchant bank SG Warburg, and provided funds for expansion.
Public relations chief Liam 011iff says there are no plans for a flotation at present: 'A flotation can only be done in a reasonably buoyant market," he says. "Right now, you're hard pressed to find any companies floating." He insists that the company is "not in difficulty" and stresses that many other firms are in a similar situation.
York bosses, led by managing director Jim Davies, bought the company from the Bunzl Corporation in June 1988. They started a programme of Continental acquisitions, saying that they wanted to become a "panEuropean trailer builder". They bought Piacenza of Italy in 1988, Titan of France in 1989, and Italian petrol tanker specialist OMT earlier this year.
011iff says that while UK domestic orders have slumped, overseas sales are booming: "Exports in 1991 have approached £25m, which is a 28% increase on this time last year," he says. "We've sold £8.5m worth to Germany, which is a new market."
However, the UK arm of the group has had to cut its workforce from 984 to 804 over the past 12 months.