Vp continues on acquisition trail
ACQUISITIVE equipment hire group Vp has added a further two businesses to its growing operation.
The Harrogate-based group, which has made seven acquisitions in the last seven months, today announced that its subsidiary, Hire Station, has bought
heater and air conditioner rental business Arcotherm for £650,000 as well as buying North East company DJ Tool Hire out of administration.
Arcotherm, which was founded 15 years ago, has branches in Stoke-on-Trent and Oxford and will operate within Climate Hire, Hire Station’s cooling, heating, drying and environmental products operation.
Vp did not disclose the price of the deal for DJ Tool Hire, which has branches in County Durham and Gateshead and which it said would strengthen Hire Station’s tool hire network in the North East.
Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of Vp, commented: “The acquisition of Arcotherm represents a further important step in the establishment of Hire Station’s climate products business, Climate Hire, and brings with it a wealth of valuable expertise with the transferring management team.
“The acquisition of the long established DJ business further enhances our distribution capability for tool hire and associated services in the North East
of England,” he added.
VP, formerly known as Vibroplant, was founded in 1954. It was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1973, and is now made up of six business divisions – each specialising in a different area of construction equipment supply.
Hire Station provides tools and specialist products for industry, construction and home owners; TPA supplies portable roadway systems, bridging, fencing and barriers; Torrent Trackside rents infrastructure equipment and services for the railway renewals and maintenance industry; Groundforce hires out excavation support systems and specialist products for the water, civil engineering and construction industries; UK Forks provides rough terrain material handling equipment for industry, residential and general construction while Airpac Bukom Oilfield Services rents out equipment in the international oil and gas exploration and development markets.
