Yorkshire hire companies snapped up
CHERRY picker hire company Access Hire Nationwide (AHN) and portable buildings and storage supplier Welfare Hire Nationwide have been acquired by Elysian Capital.
Elysian Capital, the private equity fund specialising in the UK lower mid-market, has bought the Normanton-headquartered businesses in conjunction with the company’s management.
AHN is a leading player in the hire of specialist powered access and welfare vehicles in the UK. It provides Vehicle Mounted Access Platforms (VMAPs) for infrastructure maintenance such as power, street lighting and telecoms. WHN provides mobile and static welfare pods (temporary eating and washroom facilities for workers) on short to medium-term hire contracts.
All the AHN vehicles are managed from the business’s head office in Normanton, near Wakefield, while mobile and static welfare units, under WHN, are located in Monmouth, South Wales.
The business has been acquired from a shareholder group headed by David Wraith, who was non-executive chairman and founder of the businesses.
Ken Terry, CEO at Elysian Capital, said “We are delighted to be working with John and his team on this exciting opportunity. The management have done an excellent job in building the AHN business into the UK market leader in the Vehicle Mounted Access Platform sector and establishing WHN as a fast growing provider of safe and high quality welfare units for workers’ off-site requirements. We are keen to work with the management and invest to continue to grow the business in to complimentary areas to further service our customers.”
John Wood, CEO of AHN and WHN said: “We are very pleased to have concluded this acquisition with Elysian Capital who share our vision for the future growth and development of our market leading businesses. AHN and WHN provide a critical service in support of the UK construction and infrastructure sectors.
“We believe that, with the help of Elysian Capital, we can expand the range, quantity and quality of products we offer and improve the services we provide to our customers. Our Vans and Welfare units are critical in providing UK infrastructure workers with safe, comfortable and efficient working facilities.”
Elysian Capital was advised by PwC (financial, commercial, tax due diligence and tax structuring); KPMG (corporate finance); Addleshaw Goddard (legal); Aon Group (insurance), Praxis (environmental) and Edward Symons (valuation). Management were advised by DLA Piper (legal) and the vendor was advised by Stuart Warriner, corporate finance partner at PwC in Leeds and Brabners (legal). Senior debt and working capital facilities were provided by HSBC leveraged finance.
