TDG gasses up on LPG fleet
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• The Transport Development Group has bought the Calor group's transport business, Liquids Powders & Gas Transport, for just under Vm.
The purchase will swell TDG's tanker division, Linkman, by about 250 tankers to give it a total fleet of 750.
TDG paid less than the asking price for LPG "but TDG's basis of depreciation is a lot more conservative than most", says TDG chairman Sir James Duncan, adding that the company is happier "spending money on new vehicles than in the workshops".
Duncan is satisfied with the deal: "We're buying at a time when business is not at its most sprightly. We're now into a buyers' market."
In the past TDG has made no secret of its intention to acquire businesses while prices are "realistic", according to Duncan, who points out that the company is sitting on plenty of capital at present.
TDG will be looking for a 20% return on capital invested in LPG, he adds.
Calor, which has been negotiating with TDG for about three months, says it is selling LPG in line with its strategy of "concentrating on Calor's core business which is the sale and distribution of Calor gas".
Calor Transport, which handles gas distribution, remains unchanged. LPG managing director Jack Armstrong has taken early retirement following the sale; sales and marketing director Tony Gilroy is staying with the Calor group.
LPG employs about 250 staff at four depots. It made a net profit of just under Elm on a ElOin turnover last year.