11.12.2005

New Zealand Crane Hire set for expansion

New Zealand Crane Hire is preparing for a major expansion fuelled by a $13(£5/$8.9) million investment from two AMP Private Capital funds jointly managed by Pencarrow Private Equity Ltd and AMP Capital Investors (New Zealand) Limited.

AMP Pencarrow will take a sizeable shareholding in the company with the balance remaining in the hands of the current management team – Deane Manley, Steve Handyside, Cameron McCahill, Eddie Hubbard and John Morrow, together with the Group’s Wellington based chairman, Bruce McCallum.

New Zealand Crane Hire Group CEO Deane Manley says the company aims to leverage the investment to become a $100 (£40/$70) million operation in five years’ time, offering world class one stop lifting solutions across the country.
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Deane Manley, CEO New Zealand Crane Hire Group

“We have taken the company from being a $4 (£1.6/$2.8) million business six years ago to a $25 (£10/$17.3) million business today,” says Manley. “The AMP Pencarrow investment gives us a strong capital base and a capacity to grow that makes what we have achieved in the past six years pale in comparison to the opportunities ahead of us.

New Zealand Crane Hire was formed from the acquisition of Central Cranes Ltd from The Northland Port Corporation in October 1999 and is part of New Zealand Group Holdings Ltd that also includes New Zealand Access Hire, New Zealand Telehandlers and New Zealand Tower Cranes.
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New Zealand Crane Hires Grove GMK6220

The group currently has operations in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington.

Pencarrow Private Equity executive director Rod Gethen said New Zealand Crane Hire has an exciting future. “We were impressed by the achievements to date of the team at and their systematic and professional focus on health and safety, reliability and learning which we believe will keep them at the forefront of their industry. We were attracted to the opportunity to back a leading player that has a vision to become a national provider of lifting solutions in a growing yet fragmented industry”.

New Zealand Crane Hire Group General Manager Cameron McCahill says there is a huge untapped potential in the crane and access industries. “Cranes are obviously used in commercial and residential construction but we also do a lot of infrastructural work such as sewage treatment plants, water treatment, roads, bridge building and constructing new hospitals, correction facilities and schools.”