The father and son team of Malcolm and Ben Bowers have sold their Lifterz access platform hire business to Speedy for £9.6m cash.
Speedy has also paid off Lifterz’s £11.9m debt as part of the transaction, making it a £21.5m deal.
Lifterz Holdings is based in Wakefield, with additional sites in Haydock, Daventry and Bathgate. It has a fleet of approximately 1,300 access platforms, £15m annual revenues and 90 employees.
Unaudited revenue for the 12 months ended 31st January 2019 was £15.2m with normalised EBITDA of £3.3m. Gross assets were £17.2m.
Malcolm Bowers, who turned 70 last month, previously founded Aerials for Industry Ltd (AFI) in 1998 before selling out in 2005 and starting Lifterz with his son in 2007. The duo are now joining Speedy along with the rest of the Lifterz team.
In November 2017 Speedy acquired Prolift Access and Platform Sales & Hire. The acquisition of Lifterz takes its powered access fleet to around 7,500 platforms, behind only Loxam as the UK’s second biggest access fleet.
Speedy said: “Since November 2017, the group has invested over £50m in the powered access market in line with its strategy to build a national presence through in-fill acquisitions and organic capital expenditure. The acquisition of Lifterz now provides it with a comprehensive national presence in this sector.”
