THEMA: Hornby - Lima - Arnold

Pressemitteilung von Hornby:
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Hornby PLC - Completion of Acquisition

    RNS Number:4620G
Hornby PLC
16 December 2004


                       HORNBY COMPLETES LIMA ACQUISITION

Hornby Plc ("Hornby"), the model and collectables group, is pleased to announce
that it has completed the acquisition of certain assets of Lima S.p.A in
liquidation ("Lima") for Euro8 million (Approximately £5.5 million1) fully funded
from cash reserves and Bank overdraft facilities.

Lima is one of Europe's best known model railway companies. It has a strong
profile in Italy, France and Germany, with brands including Lima, Rivarossi,
Jouef, Arnold and Pocher. In recent years, Lima has struggled to contain
production costs associated with its European manufacturing facility. Despite
strong brands and an attractive product range, the company found itself in
financial difficulties and was placed into administration in 2003. Hornby has
acquired certain assets of the company from the liquidators through the Court of
Brescia. The majority of these assets are the trademarks together with the
moulds and tooling and associated assets for a substantial number of different
model railway product lines.

Hornby is planning to re-locate the manufacturing and assembly of the Lima
products to China. Hornby has managed the outsourcing of its own manufacturing
and assembly processes to China successfully over recent years. This process has
enabled Hornby to concentrate on designing new product lines, improving
distribution channels and innovate its marketing programme.

Hornby is currently cataloguing all of the Lima moulds and planning which lines
it will re-launch in the second half of 2005. Hornby is retaining a presence in
Italy. A number of the key marketing, sales and administrative staff employed by
Lima will remain at the company's base in Brescia in Northern Italy.

Hornby was assisted in this transaction by Studio Pirola, Milan; Lima was
assisted by Baker McKenzie, Milan.

Frank Martin, Chief Executive of Hornby:

" We are delighted to complete this acquisition. This is a major step in our
strategy to increase our global model railway business. Lima has fantastic
potential. The Lima brands have a long history and are extremely well known in
European and increasingly in North American markets.

" We have been delighted with the level of support from potential customers who
are excited about our plans to re-invigorate the brands. There is a rich
tradition and consumer goodwill associated with the Lima brands which we intend
to nurture very carefully. We have planned a detailed integration strategy which
will lead to the re-launch of the most popular Lima product ranges in the second
half of 2005.

" Distribution of our Scalextric product range in Italy will also be transferred
to the Lima organisation. This will provide a bedrock of sales, pending
availability of the Lima product ranges, whilst giving a new impetus to
Scalextric sales in Italy.

" We are pleased that we have retained a number of the key Lima personnel, who
bring the benefits of their exceptional levels of expertise and knowledge. We
will aim to grow the scale of the team in Italy as our growth strategy gains
momentum."

1 Based on Euro/£ exchange rate of Euro1.447/£ per the Financial Times, 15 December
2004.

                                     -ends-
Date: 16 December 2004
For further information contact:
Hornby Plc                                             City Profile Group
Frank Martin, Chief Executive                          Simon Courtenay
John Stansfield, Finance Director                      James Cooper
01843-233500                                           020-7448-3244
Web: www.hornby.com or: www.scalextric.com


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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