Ashtead buys temporary roadways specialist Eve

Ashtead Group has acquired temporary trackway and events rental company Eve (formerly Eve Trakway) for £28 million plus an additional £7 million conditional on its profits in the current financial year.

Eve, which had revenues of £26 million in the year to March 2012 and has seven locations in the UK, will operate as a separate division of A-Plant under its existing brand.

Current Eve managing director, Rick Barnett, and the existing Eve management team will continue to run the business.

Based in Chesterfield, Eve rents temporary roadways, walkways, pitch coverings and pedestrian and vehicle bridges, together with crowd control barrier systems, traffic management, security and lighting solutions.

Sat Dhaiwal, A-Plant’s chief executive officer, said, “We believe that the product range and markets served will complement the existing A-Plant business and together we believe there will be a number of market opportunities.

“A-Plant already hires equipment into the UK events market; we supplied a great deal of equipment during the London Olympics & Paralympics which was used to direct pedestrians and traffic around the venues, but for certain types of equipment we had to supply on a re-hire basis.

“Having Eve under the A-Plant umbrella gives us the opportunity as a group to supply more of a complete package to the events industry, as well as opening up Eve’s customer base to a wider range of equipment”.

Although the acquisition brings new products and customers, there is some overlap between the two businesses. Eve has a division called ATM Traffic Management that rents temporary traffic lights, which is the same service provided by A-Plant Lux. A spokesman for A-Plant said Eve would be run separately with no immediate plans to integrate the two traffic management operations.

Eve has grown its business in recent years by acquiring small, specialist rental business, including traffic control and management system supplier, ATM Traffic Solutions, and mobile tower lighting supplier, Brightlights.