11th Aug 2005 07:53
Ashtead Group PLC11 August 2005 ASHTEAD GROUP PLC Acquisitions and disposal Ashtead Group plc, the equipment rental group serving the US and UKconstruction, industrial and homeowner market, announces that its US subsidiarySunbelt Rentals has further progressed development of its clustered marketsstrategy through the following recent transactions: • the acquisition from Brookstone Equipment & Services Inc of three stores located in Orange and San Diego, California and Las Vegas, Nevada • following the acquisition of five stores from HSS RentX in Southern Florida announced on 18 May 2005, Sunbelt has now acquired a further store in Knoxville, Tennessee from HSS RentX • the acquisition of a store in Nokomis, Florida In total the stores acquired this year have annual revenues of approximately $22million and were acquired for a total consideration of approximately $23million. These acquisitions were financed entirely from existing creditfacilities. Additionally Sunbelt has recently completed the disposal of its 12 specialistscaffold depots on the West Coast and in Texas to one of the largest scaffoldservice providers in North America, Safway Services, Inc. The estimated proceedsof $24 million are being reinvested in developing our general tool operations onthe West Coast, including the Brookstone acquisition discussed above. Sunbelt also continues its organic opening programme and has already opened newstores in Miami, Phoenix and Houston this year. George Burnett, Chief Executive said:" This is in line with our strategy to focus our businesses on growth marketsand based on the last 12 months performance the net effect of these transactionsis EBITDA positive. The acquisitions strengthen Sunbelt's presence by furtherdeveloping clusters of stores from which we can better serve our key markets inthe US and continue to take advantage of the strong market conditions and thestructural shift from ownership to rental". Contacts: Cob Stenham Non-executive chairman 020 7299 5562George Burnett Chief executive )Ian Robson Finance director ) 01372 362300 MaitlandBrian Hudspith 020 7379 5151 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Ashtead Group