A-Plant, one of the UK's leading equipment hire companies, has acquired Lion Trackhire for £38 million (€42.5 million). A-Plant said that it wants to merge the business with its temporary access specialist operation Eve and re-position the combined business as a new brand. At the start of 2017, Lion and Eve, 90,000 aluminium panels and 400 experts employed with them, will be rebranded as 'Live.'
Lion Trackhire is a pioneer of the Trackway industry, with the World's largest and latest stock of aluminium roadway.
“It’s a bold decision to consign names such as Eve and Lion to history, but we want all our staff, as the shop window of the business, to feel equally proud of the brand. A new brand is the best way of ensuring that happens... This is a merger of equals. It’s two big, strong businesses coming together, combining a huge amount of skills, knowledge and expertise and we’re going to be a very compelling, solution-based proposition for our customers," said Richard Thomas, managing director of the specialist products division at A-Plant.
“We’re going to put all the equity we’ve got behind us and move forward as one great business. Our customers will definitely see the benefit, not least because of the huge quantity of high quality of trackway panels, fences and barriers we can offer," Mr Thomas added. “Furthermore we see real scope for growth in supply of trackway in this country to transmission and construction projects. HS2 is going to be a huge for temporary access, by way of example.”
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Meanwhile, A-Plant said it would further increase its investment in aluminium panels in order to grow Lion’s German business under the brand Live and develop a European market, which had been slow in adopting a fabricated aluminium trackway solution so far.
For now, Eve and Lion will continue to trade separately till the end of 2016; the new brand Live will be unveiled at the Showman’s Show in Newbury this week.
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