The companies being sold are Deborah, Sierra Communications (which now incorporates Holgate’s business), Easy Access, Donohoe Scaffolding, Rent-a-Fence, Roankabin Holdings and Eventserv.
The operations are being bought by an acquisition vehicle called Millington set-up by entrepreneur Denis O’Brien for the deal.
The companies had a turnover of £140m for the year to April 30 2011 and made an operating profit of £7m.
More than 2,300 people are employed by Siteserv across the UK and Ireland.
O’Brien said: “I believe that Siteserv – with a workforce of over 2,300 – has the potential to grow and develop geographically in many countries.
“Siteserv has an excellent track record of winning new business and growing revenues in a competitive market.
“Our investment demonstrates our commitment to growing the business into the future, supporting its existing customer base, employees and expanding further in its core markets.
“We believe the team has a great opportunity to capture growth opportunities in the future”.
The completed deal will see Sitserv wound down as a publicly quoted company and any proceeds left after its debts are paid will go to shareholders.
Siteserv said only £4m would be left from the sale for shareholders after its debts were settled.
The company confirmed to the Stock Exchange today that its current debt levels were “unsustainable”.
Siteserv said: “Following completion, the Group will not have any revenue generating operating businesses.
“The Board has determined that it is in the best interests of Shareholders as a whole to return the net proceeds of the Proposed Disposal to Shareholders as efficiently and expediently as possible and to wind up the Company to facilitate the distributions to the Shareholders in a tax efficient manner.”
The Siteserv name will retained but Siteserv plc will no longer exist.
Brian Harvey, Chief Executive, Siteserv said: “We are delighted with the partnership we have built with our new partner and we believe that this will enable us to consolidate and strengthen the ambitions of Siteserv in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Internationally, both through organic growth and acquisitions.
“In addition I believe teaming up with a new partner will provide security and strength to our balance sheet and in turn provide confidence to customers and employees alike. We believe the team has a great opportunity to capture growth opportunities in the future”.
Via: www.constructionenquirer.com The Voice of Scaffolding Since 2008 | U.K. Edition
The company has acquired the equity stake in Hong Kong Fuji Technology (HFT) for HK$58m (£4.75m). HFT provides thermal insulation, painting, grit blasting and scaffolding services to the power industry.
Cape said the deal marks its entry into a “new geography” within the Far East and Pacific Rim. Chief executive Martin May added: “The acquisition of HFT presents an exciting entry into a strategically important market.
“This is a key step which provides a springboard for Cape’s future expansion into Greater China. We see great potential for Cape in this venture and warmly welcome the HFT team, who share Cape’s commitment to safety, reliability and timely delivery, into the group.”
HFT was founded in 1993 and employs more than 130 staff. It is expected to report a turnover of HK$87m (£7.13m) in 2012.
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Part of a wall at the site of the former Thompson Mill, in Tetley Street, Bradford, which was destroyed by fire last October, collapsed yesterday, bringing down scaffolding along with it.
The emergency services were called to the site at about 6.30pm after the wall and scaffolding came down.
Mark Rogerson, watch commander at Bradford fire station, said crews used thermal imaging cameras and a sniffer dog to make sure there was nobody trapped under the rubble.
He said: “The building itself is down, but they left up the external walls which go around the outside of the site and around the outside of that was the scaffolding which they had been using.”
Mr Rogerson said it was not yet known what caused the 20ft by 40ft section of the wall to collapse.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said a nearby window was smashed by a piece of the scaffolding, which was about three floors high.
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The payout of 14 pence a share, is up 17 percent from 2010, the Uxbridge, England-based company said in a statement. Sales rose 11 percent to 722.5 million pounds ($1.1 billion), while profit after tax slid 5.5 percent to 49.7 million pounds.
The company, which counts the biggest energy companies as clients, is working on liquefied natural gas plants in Australia, and said Asia is its strongest growth market.
It rose 3.6 percent to 445 pence by 9:37 a.m. in London, giving the company a market value of 528 million pounds.
“We’ve always said we’d be progressive about dividends,” Chief Executive Officer Martin May said by phone. “We’ve got more than 60 percent of our 2012 consensus earnings already in the order book.” The dividend “indicates our confidence.”
Consensus analyst estimates for revenue this year are currently about 760 million pounds. The company has said it expects sales to reach about 785 million pounds.
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AN eyewitness said “it was a miracle nobody was killed” when scaffolding collapsed in a town centre.
A 45-year-old worker plunged 15ft to the floor during the incident on Market Street, Chorley on Sunday.
Debris was scattered the pavement and road as the entire structure, which was at the front of Hampson’s toy shop, collapsed.
Matthew Phillipson, 36, was walking along Market Street when he saw the structure crash to the floor.
He said: “I was on the same side of the road, about 50 yards away, when I saw the scaffolding start to move.
“It was like everything happened in slow mot-ion, it just teetered over and smashed on the footpath and road.
“It made a massive crashing noise and I could see metal poles and planks all over the place.
“We ran over and saw there was a man who had fallen. My friend told him to stay still and I phoned for an amb-ulance.
“It’s lucky it happened when the street was quiet. If there had been pedestrians walking past at the time they could easily have been killed.”
“At the time it happened it was a bit breezy but not blowing a gale.”
Paramedics attended to the worker at the scene but he did not require hospital treatment.
Hampson’s is a long-standing Chorley business. The premises are currently undergoing extensive refurbishment.
Police sealed off the road in both directions for several hours as investigations began into the how the incident happened and the material was cleared from the road and pavement.
A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said they were aware of the incident and were currently conducting further inquiries.
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