UK rental specialist A-Plant has acquired Lion Trackhire for a total consideration of £38m and will merge the business with Eve, which it bought three years ago.
From 1st January 2017, Lion and Eve, 90,000 panels and 400 experts between them, will be rebranded Live, two letters from each company reflecting a ‘responsive’, ‘immediate’, ‘switched on’ mantra. Dale Robinson, who left Eve to found and run first TPA then Lion, will manage the business.
Months in the planning, and subject to a rigorous process by the Competition and Markets Authority, Live is a perfect mix of client focus, inspiration, legacy (Eve turns 50 this year) and venturesome spirit.
Richard Thomas, Managing Director, Specialist Products Division at A-Plant, comments: “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.
“Dale, who has built and grown TPA and Lion will lead Live, bring it together and grow the business further. We as A-Plant take pride in the fact that, while we’re a big company, we give entrepreneurs like Dale the freedom to flourish.”
Dale Robinson says: “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.
“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.”
A-Plant investment will see more aluminium panels coming on stream and a concerted effort to grow Lion’s German business under the Live banner and develop a European market, which has been slow to adopt an engineered trackway solution.
A-Plant has made a similar commitment to Eve’s barrier and fencing division, which includes the iconic Super Fortress Fence used at Glastonbury Festival and will be another telling part of the Live portfolio.
While Eve and Lion will continue to trade for the rest of 2016, the new brand will be unveiled at the Showman’s Show in Newbury this week.