Acquisitive Vp swoops for Brandon Hire in £68m deal

Harrogate-based hire business Vp has today announced the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Brandon Hire Group for more than £68m.
The deal includes a cash consideration of £41.6m payable on completion and assumed net debt of around £27.2m. The acquisition has been funded from new banking facilities with the Group’s lenders.
The combination of the two businesses will, over the medium term, deliver economies of scale in purchasing and operations and will create a leading specialist tool hire business within the UK division of Vp – which employs around 100 people in its Harrogate HQ.

Neil Stothard

Speaking to TheBusinessDesk.com this morning, Neil Stothard, chief executive of Vp, said the acquisition was the biggest deal the company had ever completed. In recent years, Vp has acquired several other businesses including TR Pty, Jackson Mechanical Services and Zenith Survey Equipment.
Stothard said: “It is a terrific opportunity for us. Brandon Hire is very much a long-established business like ours; it’s a good business with a great record. It was available and we liked the look of it and I’m pleased that we have got it over the line.”
He added that the ambition was to grow Vp’s speciality tool hire division for the SME customer base. He added: “We were looking to organically grow this part of the business but Brandon offers a fantastic opportunity for us to grow even further in that sector. They have a wide breadth of coverage, especially in towns where we are not already – so there is limited overlap. This gives us a firmer foothold in the market and a wider scope of customer base.”
He added: “We expect this acquisition to be earnings enhancing to the Group in the first twelve months of ownership.”
Established in 1971, Brandon Hire is a major national tool and equipment hire business with over 900 employees, operating across 143 locations across the UK. Brandon Hire has an extensive customer base focused predominantly on SMEs operating in regional and local markets.
A well established, profitable business, Brandon Hire operates a full range of tool hire equipment with an operational model which is closely aligned to Vp’s own specialist tool hire business, Hire Station.
Brandon Hire had been owned by a private equity form for seven years. For the year ended 31 December 2016, Brandon Hire’s revenues were £79.8m, generating profits before interest, tax, exceptionals and amortisation of £6m from gross assets of £50.6m
Commenting on the acquisition of Brandon Hire, Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of Vp, said: “The acquisition of a well established business of the size and quality of Brandon Hire is a significant development for Vp. We have, over recent years, developed an industry leading specialist tool hire business in the UK. This transaction represents a major step change in the scale and scope of our specialist tool hire offering.
“The Vp and Brandon Hire business cultures are closely aligned and we look forward to working with all of the Brandon Hire employees in developing the business further over the coming years.”
The acquisition of Brandon Hire prompts significant upgrades to Vp’s FY19 forecasts.In FY18, the acquisition prompts an 11% increase in revenue and a 3% increase in EBITA.
In FY19, Vp anticipates the initial earnings accretion (+14%), which reflects the EBITA reported in FY16 (£6m) as well as assumed growth and initial synergy benefits (combined of around £1.5m). Beyond FY19, the firm sees potential for additional synergy gains, but say it is too early to estimate the quantum.
Net debt increases by the £69m acquisition cost, adjusting also for increased EBITDA, less investment in capex. The net debt/EBITDA ratio increases to 1.9x in FY19 and is likely to reduce from FY20.
Vp’s Interim Results for the six months ended 30 September 2017 will be announced on 21 November.