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Hitachi Capital buys NVR
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2010
Hitachi Capital Vehicles Solutions has snapped up the lion’s share of Newtown Vehicle Rentals after the business went into administration on 2 December.
NVR ran a fleet of 7000 vans and trucks on a contract hire and rental basis from its head office in Redditch and depots in Rugby, Manchester and Heathrow. Prior to the appointment of joint administrators from Deloitte, it had 131 employees and an annual turnover of £41m.
The sale follows unsuccessful attempts by NVR and the 25 lenders who funded its fleet to restructure the business over the previous 21 months. Hitachi has taken on 33 NVR staff on short term contracts – the remaining 98 employees left on agreed terms before the appointment of administrators.
Joint administrator Dominic Wong said: “NVR has historically been a profitable and growing business with robust revenues and a high quality customer base. It had established a reputation for strong service levels and an offering built on a full fleet management and maintenance service. However, the limited funding available in the recent economic environment for new and replacement vehicles caused the fleet to age, incurring greater maintenance costs which impacted both profitability and cash flow.”
Wong added that the sale represented a better outcome for stakeholders than if the business had been forced to close and also meant Hitachi would take on existing NVR customer contracts with minimal disruption.
Jon Lawes, managing director of Hitachi Capital’s commercial vehicle division, said: “The acquisition represents the best option for all as it ensures continuity of service for customers and employment for the remaining staff. With recent announcements of similar companies closing, being able to use our Hitachi backing to achieve a different outcome for NVR’s customers and staff is a good result.”
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