Manchester-based cleaning products firm McBride plc said on Thursday its Unit Dosing division has made a binding offer to the shareholders of France-based Eurotop SAS for the acquisition of the Eurotab Group for £34.5 million in cash.
McBride also said that it will see elevated input costs in April and expects further increases in the near future due to the conflict in the Middle East.
The firm said: “Consequently, the group has already informed all customers about temporary price adjustments, or surcharges to current pricing, to recover these higher, beyond our control, cost impacts from the Middle East conflict.”
McBride is a leading European manufacturer and supplier of private label and contract manufactured products for the domestic household and professional cleaning and hygiene markets.
“Eurotab is a leading, privately-owned specialist in the design and manufacture of solid-format cleaning and hygiene solutions, primarily serving private label and certain contract manufacturing markets,” said McBride.
“It provides precision powder compaction technology supporting a diverse tablet format-based product range, including automatic dishwasher tabs, moisture absorbing solutions and disinfecting bleach tablets.
“In the year to 30 June 2026, Eurotab is expected to report consolidated revenues of EUR 65 million with the majority of the revenues in Europe derived from its two specialised manufacturing sites in France. In addition, Eurotab operates a smaller business supplying the market in Turkey from its facility located near Istanbul.”
On current trading conditions, McBride said: “The conflict in the Middle East has to date had a relatively small impact on trading activities, mostly limited to haulage cost increases from higher fuel prices.
“These conditions have now started to change, with the most heavily impacted chemical and packaging suppliers implementing price increases to recover higher petrochemical derived feedstocks and / or the impact of higher energy costs in chemical and packaging production.
“The first signs of possible shortages in supply chains around the world are beginning to emerge.
“As a result, the group will see elevated input costs in April and expects further increases in the near future.
“Consequently, the group has already informed all customers about temporary price adjustments, or surcharges to current pricing, to recover these higher, beyond our control, cost impacts from the Middle East conflict.
“The group notes that during previous periods of global macro uncertainty, there has been resilient and growing demand for private label cleaning products as a result of the compelling value for money proposition for consumers.”
McBride CEO Chris Smith said: “The proposed acquisition of Eurotab Group represents an attractive strategic opportunity and is aligned with our growth strategy.
“It is expected to further reinforce the strong market position of McBride’s Unit Dosing division in the European detergent market and bring meaningful scale to the group.
“The transaction will enhance the resilience of the Unit Dosing division through the addition of two new product categories, broaden our product and customer offering and deepen relationships with key retail customers, while providing access to new markets.
“We expect the acquisition to be immediately earnings accretive from completion and to deliver meaningful synergies. The proposed acquisition will be funded from existing facilities and will have no impact on our share buyback programme.
“The board continues to believe that McBride’s market capitalisation remains significantly undervalued and this proposed acquisition, along with the ongoing buyback, reflects our confidence in the long-term value of the business.”