Likewise Group has acquired a package of Headlam assets from administrators for £14.9m in cash, adding distribution capacity, specialist flooring businesses and 110 employees to the AIM-listed company. The transaction includes Headlam’s 90,000 sq ft freehold distribution centre at Thatcham, operating assets and inventory at the site, together with the trade and assets of Crucial Trading and Concept Flooring operations in West Bromwich and Stoke-on-Trent.
The purchase also includes principal intellectual property and has been funded entirely from Likewise’s existing cash resources, with no new debt or equity raised on completion. A separate £2.3m payment on account plus VAT is being made under an inventory agency arrangement, extending the commercial relationship beyond the assets transferred outright.
Headlam Group and trading subsidiary HFD entered administration on 8 September, so the acquisition is structured as an asset purchase rather than the acquisition of a Headlam company. That allows Likewise to select the parts of the operation it wants to retain without taking on the failed corporate entity in full.
For Likewise, the appeal lies in both physical capacity and market reach. The Thatcham property expands freehold distribution infrastructure in southern England, while Crucial Trading and Concept Flooring add specialist product ranges, customer relationships and experienced teams. The company says the acquisition also supports its medium-term goal of reaching £300m in revenue.
Likewise believes the combination leaves it as the UK’s largest floor coverings distributor following Headlam’s administration. That remains the board’s assessment rather than an independently established market ranking, but it illustrates how quickly competitive structure can change when a large incumbent fails and another operator has sufficient cash to acquire selected assets.
The nine-month inventory arrangement adds an operational role to the transaction. Likewise will help Headlam’s administrators sell remaining stock through its sales and distribution network and occupy Headlam’s Coleshill site under an exclusive licence, with proceeds shared between the group and the administrators.
That process matters because flooring distribution depends heavily on warehousing, product availability, supplier relationships and deliveries to independent retailers and contractors. Selling the remaining inventory in an orderly way can reduce disruption across those relationships while the administration continues, rather than forcing a sudden withdrawal of stock from the market.
Around 110 employees associated with Thatcham, Crucial Trading and Concept Flooring are expected to transfer to Likewise, bringing operating knowledge alongside the physical assets and brands. That continuity should make integration easier than acquiring property and inventory without the teams familiar with customers, suppliers and day-to-day distribution.
The £14.9m consideration follows a £32.5m equity fundraising completed by Likewise before the transaction, giving the business additional flexibility even though the acquisition itself is being paid from existing resources. Headlam reported unaudited revenue of approximately £188.8m for the first half of 2026, but separate historic revenue and profit figures are not available for the specific assets now being acquired.
Likewise expects the transaction and agency agreement to make no material contribution to profit during the remainder of 2026, with a positive contribution anticipated in 2027. Integration, supplier continuity and the conversion of inherited customer relationships will therefore be more relevant measures in the near term than immediate earnings uplift.
The acquisition expands Likewise through a combination of property, brands, inventory, intellectual property and employees rather than through a conventional corporate takeover. Its eventual value will depend on whether those pieces can be absorbed into the buyer’s existing platform while the remaining Headlam stock is sold without creating further disruption across the flooring market.
You must be logged in to post a comment.