Tower crane manufacturer Wolffkran has acquired UK rental company and Wolffkran distributor HTC Plant from owner PC Harrington.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, was signed on 14 May and includes the fleet of more than 200 Wolff tower cranes, mostly luffers, and the 370-strong workforce will be retained, Peter Schiefer, Wolffkran owner told IC.
The acquisition coincides with HTC’s 40th Anniversary as Wolffkran dealer for the UK. HTC Plant has a turnover of more than £40 million (US$ 60 million) and will now be known as HTC Wolffkran Ltd. Others in the running for the acquisition were all investment groups, Schiefer said.
Dave Holder, HTC managing director, said, “Wolffkran has been the tower crane manufacturer of our choice for decades. It’s reliable and state of the art cranes are the ideal fit for our ‘be the best’ culture. Becoming a fully integrated part of the Wolff family fills us with pride and confidence.”
For HTC customers a seamless transition is envisaged and it will be “business as usual.” Development plans include new Wolff tower cranes joining the fleet, both as replacements to update it and also additional units for expansion. Adding the HTC fleet to Wolffkran’s existing rental park extends the total to more than 750 tower cranes.
“Customers will also benefit from a more direct link to the factory, which was already very good, as HTC was already a dealer,” Schiefer said. “There is additional opportunity for sales and we already have contractors enquiring about buying to create their own fleet so that they are self-contained, to some extent, with a certain amount of their own capacity.”
HTC customers are reporting a positive outlook for the UK market over the next few years and for the commercial construction sector in particular, Schiefer said, and around 90% of HTC’s business is in this sector.