04.06.2007

Wizard goes to Lavendon

Lavendon has acquired Wizard Workspace Ltd, the company previously known as Independent Access Supplies (IAS) based in Norwich. Wizard acquired IAS in October 2004 in an MBI from administrators KPMG.

Wizard operates a fleet of 1,300 aerial lifts through a network of
nine depots.

Wizard had revenues of £8.8 million in 2006 with a pre tax profit
Of £600,000. Gross assets are £9.7 million and net liabilities
£1.7 million.

Lavendon is paying £1.7 million in cash on completion with an additional consideration of £450,000 payable in cash on 1st June 2008.

The acquisition will be funded from Lavendon's existing bank
facilities. As part of the transaction, Lavendon will assume Wizard's net debt of £8.7 million.

Kevin Appleton, Lavendon's chief executive, said "The acquisition of
Wizard has brought both a quality rental fleet and an important customer base into our UK Group”.

“Wizard's customers should quickly benefit from having access to the Group's wider product range, greater availability and continued investment in both fleet and systems as we seek to further improve our service levels and strengthen our position as the leading supplier of powered access equipment in the UK ."

Andy Wright, Lavendon Group's development director added, “Lavendon’s consolidation of the UK powered access market continues to reinforce our position as the market leader in the specialist powered access sector and further strengthens our position as the largest specialist access business in the world”

The plan is to continue to run Wizard as a separate entity within Lavendon UK in the same way as it operates Panther, AMP, Kestrel and more recently Rise Hire.

IAS ran into difficulties in early 2004, appointing administrators KPMG in April, the company was heavily indebted at the time to JLG, for which it had operated as a dealer.

A group of investors, formed Wizard Workspace to acquire IAS, they included Jeremy Cross of Drivemaster, who became managing director, along with business partner Alex May, Andrew Fishburn, of JLG UK, who became sales and marketing director and Stuart Honeywood product support manager at JLG UK who became operations director. See Independent Access deal completed

Vertikal Comment

This is a good move for most of the Wizard employees, who should now see a long term and predictable future within the Lavendon group. Wizard was never a good or logical fit for Cross or May and a sale was always on the cards.

It is also an opportunity for Fishburn and Honeywood to play in a larger rental team with an owner that is committed to the industry.

Unlike its previous UK acquisitions Wizards market position is less clear, it has operated on the national stage and in spite of its fleet size cannot really be classed as a regional operator as Panther or AMP are.

The depot locations might provide useful infilling where Nationwide has some gaps. The group will benefit from some handy fleet additions, some experienced and loyal staff and some very loyal customers, including a good number of long term end user contracts.

IN spite of this the strategy is less clear than it was with Lavendon’s previous four UK acquisitions.

It will be interesting to see how it develops.