Hill & Smith in £9.8m Swedish buy
Solihull engineer Hill & Smith has acquired road signage distributor ATA for £9.8m. The purchase of the Swedish company comes just a week after Hill & Smith secured a £210m funding package from five banks.
ATA was bought for 100 million Swedish Krona (about £9.8 million) in cash, on a debt free cash free basis. The acquisition will be financed from Hill & Smith's existing bank facilities.
The Swedish manufacturer distributes road safety barriers and produces road signage to the infrastructure market. The business operates from four depot locations in Sweden and is headquartered in Stockholm.
In a statement, Hill & Smith said: "ATA's temporary road safety barrier rental model is similar to that of our "Varioguard" product in the UK, and offers further opportunity to increase our representation in the road maintenance market, as well as providing additional utilisation capacity for our existing rental fleet."
In its latest financial statements for the year ended 31 December 201, ATA recorded total revenues of £13m.
Peter Lundström, principal shareholder and current chief executive of ATA, will remain with the business along with other senior executive personnel. Lundström will continue in his role as chief executive, said Hill & Smith.
Derek Muir, chief executive of Hill & Smith Holdings, said: "ATA provides Hill & Smith with an exciting opportunity to enter the Swedish infrastructure market and a platform for future growth across Scandinavia.
"Our respective product portfolios and areas of expertise are well aligned, and the combination provides scope for future extension of our offering across other international markets. The acquisition further broadens our international footprint which is an important element in our overall strategy."
Last week, Hill & Smith announced it had a secured a £210m lending facility with Barclays; Lloyds TSB; HSBC; AB Svenska Handelsbanken and Yorkshire Bank. The company said the investment would enable it to continue to execute its growth strategy, including geographical expansion and selective acquisitions.
