Hirepool makes major acquisition

Hirepool has kicked off the new year with an acquisition to build on its specialised access equipment fleet.

With the purchase effective immediately, Hirepool are acquiring New Zealand Access Hire from New Zealand Crane Group, making it the second purchase made by Hirepool in the last year.

The addition of the New Zealand Access Hire fleet of elevated working platforms (EWPs), light towers and telehandlers will turn Hirepool arguably into the country’s largest single provider of EWPs, giving Hirepool increased penetration into the civil construction, infrastructure and film industry space.

Mark Powell, chief executive of Hirepool Limited, says as the country’s premier equipment provider, “its made strategic sense for Hirepool to add the business to its own extensive suite of products. New Zealand Access Hire has a well-deserved reputation for maintaining a quality fleet – like ours – with the machines available across our Hirepool branch network nationwide.”

Mr Powell says that the NZ Access fleet of Genie machines holds a replacement value of around NZ$12 million which reflects Hirepool’s existing fleet of JLG machines, with both brands recognised as world leaders in the access equipment market.

Deane Manley, managing director of New Zealand Crane Group, says divesting the access equipment “has been on our radar for some time, and with Hirepool already having a well established presence we saw that as the ideal solution. It also enables us to concentrate on our core business of hiring cranes that also require skilled operators, which has always been our speciality.”

Back in March 2011, it reinforced its position in the portable building market by acquiring the assets Cube Innovations, based in Hamilton.

These latest acquisitions in addition to last November’s opening of a new branch in Hamilton West, where Hirepool now has three branches based in the region, signal the company’s commitment to growth.

The access equipment hire market is estimated to be worth around $80 – 100 million annually.