Squire Patton Boggs has advised the management team of Pirtek Europe Holdings Limited on the sale of the company to US private equity firm Halifax Capital Partners LLC.
Founded in 1988 in Acton, West London, Pirtek is Europe’s largest franchisor of emergency hydraulic hose replacement services, and is a recognised automotive brand through its long-standing sponsorship of a racing team in the British Touring Car Championship. The company provides fluid transfer and on-site hose replacement services for operators of hydraulically-powered equipment, and has a diverse customer base from the manufacturing, materials handling, agriculture, transportation and logistics, utilities, rail, construction, marine, environmental services, mining, and defense industry sectors. Pirtek Europe has service centers and on-site teams working in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK. At the end of December 2014, the company consisted of 125 franchisees managing 171 centres across six countries.
The current senior executive team at Pirtek Europe will continue their service with the Company. Kelvin Roberts, Pirtek Europe’s outgoing Executive Chairman, commented: “I am proud of the success our company and our franchisees have achieved over the last 26 years by working tirelessly on behalf of our customers. We are thrilled to continue that tradition of success with our new partners at Halifax. They have a great deal of experience in international franchising and we look forward to growing our first class brand and providing unparalleled service to all our customers.”
The Squire Patton Boggs team was led by Leeds Corporate partner Richard Hunt, assisted by Richard Morton, Craig Pettit and Ben Chalkley (all from Leeds), and Jost Arnsperger, Tanja Weber and Markus Schmucker from the firm’s Berlin office.
Richard Hunt commented: "We have worked with the Pirtek management team for many years and this transaction provides an exciting opportunity for management and Halifax to take the business from a market leading European-wide platform to become a global leader in its field.
"It was a pleasure to work with such a high calibre and driven management team who are hungry to continue to grow the business. This transaction is a great example of how our global firm can deliver seamless legal services across multiple jurisdictions."