Tool and plant hire business Speedy Hire has snapped up a generator supply business for £59 million in cash and shares.
The deal for hire business LCH Generators comprises £54.5 million in cash and £4.5 million in shares. It includes £13.5 million of debt that Speedy Hire will assume on completion.
To finance the acquisition, Speedy Hire - which already employs around 200 staff at 20 sites in the Midlands - negotiated increased bank facilities of £210 million up from £150 million from its existing banking syndicate.
The acquisition will give the combined operation more than 4,000 generators available for hire throughout the UK.
LCH employs 196 staff at five directly operated sites plus an agency agreement based in Aberdeen that provides services to the off shore market.
The business has realised 20 per cent compound annual growth (CAGR) in revenue over the past five years.
Significant growth experienced in previous years had continued, Speedy Hire said.
The acquisition was in line with Speedy Hire's plan to expand all areas of its operations to become "number one or two in each segment of the hire market in which it operates".
