Taken together, the two deals signal that Havator sees a need, in the current savagely competitive environment, to refocus on its core business of lifting and transport. CapMan’s investment is a vote of confidence and provides the Finnish rental firm with the ability to grow organically and, potentially, acquire other businesses as the lifting sector consolidates.
The deal with Ramirent will allow the two companies to offer a package of lifting and transport services, along with the access equipment needed by industrial construction companies, without Havator owning equipment outside of its core business.
Havator is more than 50 years old and recorded net sales in 2009 of €77m. It supplies crane services, special transport, section assembly and harbour crane services. Before the deal with Ramirent, it also owned an access platform business.
Finnish alternative asset manager CapMan manages private equity funds with total assets of around €3.2bn. Its CapMan Buyout IX fund has acquired a roughly 45% stake in Havator, making it the largest single owner. Former majority owner Erkki Hanhirova now owns 40% of the company. The remainder of the business is owner by staff, managers, and the Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company. The size of the investment has not been announced.
CapMan advisor Teuvo Salminen will become chairman of Havator’s board of directors. He said, “Havator has established an excellent position in the marketplace and is able to serve its customers throughout the logistics chain. Our aim is to continue building on this capability, enabling Havator’s customers to concentrate on their core businesses. Havator is committed to being a long-term partner for its customers and aims to provide them with new solutions, efficiency, and cost savings. We also intend taking an active part in the consolidation of the sector.”
Shortly after announcing the CapMan investment, Havator said it had signed a five-year rental and cooperation agreement with Ramirent. As part of the deal, Havator has sold Ramirent its access platform operation. Havator managing director Jussi Yli-Niemi said, “This is an important co-operation agreement which brings strategic benefits to both parties. By selling our access platform rental business, we can focus on core operations and we can deepen our cooperation with Ramirent to develop efficient solutions for our customers.”
Kari Aulasma, SVP Ramirent Europe East and Finland noted that the companies share customers, particularly in the industrial sector, and that by working together they will strengthen their competitiveness.
The Ramirent deal does not include Havator’s truck mounted access equipment, which remains with the crane business.
