HSS sells heating and air conditioning hire firm for 9.1x profits

Tool hire group HSS has sold portable heating, ventilation and air conditioning hire firm All Seasons Hire (ASH) for £55 million, a 9.1x multiple of the division’s £6 million operating profit for 2020. The sale comes as the ASH group announced a return to profit in the first half of this year, with half-year profits rising to £11.2 million from a £12.9 million loss last year.

The Manchester-based group has now moved to sell ASH, which generated £18 million in revenue last year, to Hampshire-based Cross Rental Services. The proceeds of the sale will be used to accelerate the payment of HSS’s debt. In its most recent accounts, the group had cut its net debt to £97.6 million, compared to £120.4 million last year.

The group’s half year results also revealed that overall sales had risen 22 per cent, from £120.7 million last year to £150.5 million. The firm also reported that EBITDA had risen by 13 per cent from 2019.

HSS CEO Steve Ashmore commented: “Over the last four years HSS has undergone a radical transformation to become a modern, agile, digitally-driven business.”

"During this time, we have continued to deliver against the strategic goals we set out in 2017 – to delever the group, transform the tool hire business, and strengthen our commercial proposition – and today’s announcement marks the completion of one of these goals.”

Regarding ASH, Ashmore added: "ASH has made an important contribution to the group over recent years and I would like to thank the team for their commitment [...] HSS will continue to work with ASH to provide our UK customers with all of their larger scale HVAC hire requirements."


Find businesses for sale here.

If you are looking for an exit, we can help!

Share this article

Latest Businesses for Sale

---

---

---

View more businesses for sale