Hill & Smith goes to Hull and back to complete takeover
SOLIHULL infrastructure and galvanising products manufacturer Hill & Smith has bought Hull-based Premier Galvanizing for £15.5m.
Premier was founded in Hull in 2000 and added an East Midlands base in Corby two years later as it expanded its galvanizing services to steel fabricators. It has grown into a business that employs around 50 staff and last year turned over £8.3m. It generated pre-tax profits of £2.3m.
It will become the sixth subsidiary in Hill & Smith’s galvanizing division, which already includes Barkers Engineering in Stoke and Joseph Ash in Halesowen as well as companies in France and the US.
Derek Muir, Hill & Smith’s group chief executive, said: “Premier has an excellent reputation for quality and service in its local areas and will now be able to enhance its service offering to galvanize longer structural products.”
The £15.5m purchase price will be paid in cash and funded from the group’s existing bank facilities.
Last year Hill & Smith, headquartered in the Shirley area of Solihull, generated sales of more than £450m.
Yesterday Hill & Smith said it is on track to meet the board’s expectations for the full year.
In a trading update, the firm said it is benefitting from the industrial and geographical spread of its markets and business units.
