Anti-Trust Authorities to Investigate Vp’s Acquisition of Brandon Hire

The United Kingdom’s Competitions & Markets Authority, which operates similarly to the Securities Exchange Commission in the United States, has notified equipment rental company Vp that it intends to investigate the recently completed acquisition by Vp of Brandon Hire Group.
Dec. 6, 2017

The United Kingdom’s Competitions & Markets Authority, which operates similarly to the Securities Exchange Commission in the United States, has notified equipment rental company Vp that it intends to investigate the recently completed acquisition by Vp of Brandon Hire Group. Vp said that although it conducted a detailed due diligence exercise, including assessing potential competition considerations, it will cooperate fully with the CMA in its investigation.

Vp announced the £41.6 million (about U.S. $55.7 million) acquisition of Brandon Hire on November 8 to be funded by cash from new banking facilities. Vp also intends to assume £27.2 million worth of net debt. The group said at the time that the acquisition will deliver economies of scale in purchasing and operations over the medium term.

On November 21, Vp posted its first half results, reporting an increase in pretax profit to £20.3 million, up from £17.7 million a year earlier, a 14.7-percent hike. Revenue rose to £136 million from £121.7 million, an 11.7-percent increase. 

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.

Sign up for Rental Equipment Register Newsletters