NatWest subsidiary buys Dennis Eagle
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• by Colin Barnett The latest uncertainty over Dennis Eagle's future has ended with its sale to a NatWest subsidiary The £31m deal includes the Warwick-based refuse and specialist vehicle operation, as well as Douglas Equipment and Schopf, both manufacturers of aviation handling vehicles.
This sale follows the bitter takeover battle last year which concluded with Dennis's purchase by Mayflower Corporation.
The Dennis Fire business at Guildford is being retained by Mayflower, but Dennis Eagle's Blackpool plant will continue to supply it with cabs.
Mayflower will also be holding on to the public transport parts of the business, which were the main objective of last year's acquisition.
Dennis Eagles new owner is a company formed by NatWest Equity Partners. The existing management team, led by managing director John Benjamin, will stay with the present sales and service operations.
Dennis launched two refuse products, the High Capacity Twin Pack and the Ex-Cell, at June's Institute of Waste Management Show in Torbay; it has just completed a major investment in computer technology to complement a twoyear modernisation programme at Warwick.
The combined businesses involved in the sale produced an operating profit of Lim on sales of £86m in the last 11 months of 1998. They contain net assets of £17.6m.