TG21 offloads its Sextons business

TG21 has announced that its subsidiary, Toad (UK), has agreed to sell its Sextons business division, which distributes in-car entertainment and infotainment (such as Sat Nav) systems. The business is being sold to Car Electronics Ltd, a well established specialist aftermarket retailer and distributor based in Leicester.

TG21's core business is in the supply of public transport CCTV and other monitoring systems. The sale of Sextons will allow the company to better focus resources on the core activity, but it is clearly also a sign of the changing fortunes in the aftermarket in-car electronics sector. Where this was once a high revenue earner, spiraling margins and reducing demand have made this market a far less attractive investment.

Sextons generated reported sales of around £4.5m in the half year to 30th June 2007, but this resulted in a loss for the division during the same period of £100,000. 

Car Electronics Ltd is to pay an amount in line with the stock holding of the Sextons division at 31st October, expected to be around £600,000.

Peter Ward, chairman of TG21, said: “We have clearly stated our strategy to exit at the earliest opportunity from our low margin legacy businesses to allow us to focus on those areas where we anticipate the higher levels of growth, namely becoming a vehicle installation service provider with our 75% subsidiary, 21st Century, supplying public transport CCTV and other monitoring systems.”