OFT clears £151m Hill Hire deal
The Office of Fair Trading has cleared the £151m acquisition of truck rental business Hill Hire, which has major operations across the East Midlands.
The decision not to refer the deal to the Competition Commission was because the watchdog did not consider there would be a lessening of competition on the basis of "horizontal unilateral effects".
The OFT added that none of the parties' combined market shares were at a level that would ordinarily give it cause for concern over unilateral effects.
Hill Hire, which has sites in Castle Donington, Northampton and Spalding, was sold by parent Lloyds Banking Group to US company Ryder Systems.
Lloyds said the book value Hill Hire was £167m and the disposal was part of its ongoing strategy to shed assets which are not core to its business.
The acquisition is expected to add about £90m in annual revenue to Ryder's global fleet management division. It also adds approximately 4,000 heavy duty vehicles; ancillary equipment including a trailer fleet for contractual lease and rental; and the company’s workforce of 300 employees including maintenance technicians.
The acquisition also includes Hill Hire's 13 vehicle maintenance facilities located throughout the UK.
KPMG's northern corporate finance team advised Lloyds on the sale.
