Richard Harpham of Escape Hunt talks about the benefits of their Boom Battle Bar Acquisition

Richard Harpham of Escape Hunt #ESC talks about the benefits of their Boom Battle Bar Acquisition which he sees as an opportunity to create one of the UK's pre-eminent experiential leisure businesses.

Key Acquisition Highlights

·      Boom Battle Bars is a fast growing experiential leisure business combining competitive socialising activities with cocktails and street food and currently comprises 1 owner-operated venue and 5 franchised venues in the UK. 

·      Significant advanced pipeline of 21 sites, where 10 have already been signed, including 2 in build, and a further 11 sites which are expected to exchange within 30 - 90 days.  

·      Total pipeline of 39 sites includes a further 18 sites with outline terms agreed.

·      The total pipeline includes £12.6 million of landlord contributions towards build, of which £7.6 million relates to the advanced pipeline.

·      Within the advanced pipeline, proposed owner-operated sites include prime sites in London on Oxford Street and the O2 Arena.

·      18 franchisees have already signed agreements to take on franchise sites.

·      Potential for co-location of Escape Hunt in several sites, with first co-located site at the Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock already open

·      The Acquisition is expected to be significantly earnings accretive and profitable in the first half of 2022.

·      The Company has been granted a two year exclusivity period by MFT Capital to acquire Flip Out, a family focused leisure entertainment business and the UK's largest trampoline operator, on pre-agreed terms.

·      The Directors believe that the Acquisition presents an unprecedented opportunity to benefit from the trends in experiential leisure and take advantage of the conditions in the retail commercial property market to create in the Enlarged Group a business which has the potential to become one of the UK's pre-eminent experiential leisure businesses.

·      Furthermore, the Directors believe that the opportunity for growth, cash generation and profitability is greater for the combined businesses than for the individual constituents and that there is the potential to generate operational synergies.

·      Proposed change of the Company's name to XP Factory Plc to reflect the changing nature of the Enlarged Group's business.