One of Hewden’s new Demags
Following the sale of the tool hire business, Hewden will have 102 remaining locations which will focus on the plant hire (equipment rental) business, including crane hire, and related complementary rental equipment.?
“Narrowing Hewden’s business lines will allow us to focus our financial and management resources on those areas most closely associated with our Caterpillar equipment related core strengths”, said Doug Whitehead, President and CEO of Finning. “Finning remains committed to the UK market with our remaining business lines both at Hewden and at our Caterpillar dealership operation.”
Andy Fraser, Managing Director of the Finning UK Group, said: “Hewden will focus on those markets where we are, or expect to be, the leading provider of rental and related services. The business will continue to be backed by an extensive branch network, over 2,000 rental professionals, a large fleet of low-hours equipment, and an emphasis on safety.”
The transaction covers 188 Hewden trading locations. Approximately half of these locations are serviced through depots located on properties owned by Hewden and the balance are located in leased premises. The purchase price excludes the owned properties which have an estimated market value of approximately GBP 25 – 30 million (C$53 – 64 million). Finning expects to dispose of these holdings in an orderly fashion.
The gross sale price, net of taxes and transaction costs is approximately equal to the net book value of the tangible assets and goodwill associated with the tools rental business. In addition, Hewden will incur restructuring and other costs associated with this disposition of approximately GBP 2 million or C$4.3 million after tax.
“This transaction is the second significant sale of a portion of our UK operations in the last year. Combined with the anticipated property sales and the disposition of the Materials Handling business last September, these transactions will generate approximately C$500 million of gross proceeds. Finning will continue to have a total of 128 locations and approximately 3,400 employees in the UK. We are committed to providing all of our UK customers with a superior product and service offering while providing our shareholders with an appropriate return from our investment in the UK”.
“Hewden remains the UK’s number one plant hire (construction equipment rental) company. We intend to build on our core strategy of providing customers with instant availability of a comprehensive range of high quality plant, supported by the best customer service offering in the industry”, said. The Hewden rental offering includes over 6,000 Caterpillar machines with a broad range of complementary non-Caterpillar equipment and services”.
?Proceeds from the sale will initially be used to repay short-term debt.
One of Hewden’s new Demags One of Hewden’s new Demags
