Lex gets into Chart for contract growth
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• Lex Service, which has 13 truck dealerships and owns 50% of contract-hire specialist Transfleet, has bought Stirlingbased commercial vehicle contract-hire and rental group Chart for 221 million.
The move gives Lex an extra nine depots, 1,200 commercial vehicles on contracthire to 200 customers, and a rental fleet of 700 trucks. Chart, which has 520 staff, will be kept as a separate operation for at least a year.
Chart was founded by current Managing director Stewart Duff in 1979, has a turnover of 223.1 million and last year made profits of 21.6 million. It also runs dedicated distribution operations for Barratts the shoe retailer and GEC involving 75 trucks.
Stewart Duff stays as managing director, Lex's David G'alloway becomes chairman.
Neither company is commenting on the likelihood of depot closures following the oneyear honeymoon designed to allow both parties to discuss possible changes "in an orderly manner".
Transfleet and Chart both have depots in Glasgow and Leeds, but Duff says both are "working flat out". Transfleet, which is jointly owned with Lombard North Central, has 23 depots nationwide.
Lex has eight Leyland Daf, one ERF, one Volvo and three Iveco Ford distributorships. It also has franchises for Bedford, VAG, Ford and Freight Rover vans. Commercial vehicle sales represent about 15% of its total business and cars the rest. It also owns Lex Vehicle Leasing, for cars and vans, jointly with Lombard. Its group turnover is .21.44 billion and profit last year was 247 million.
Duff is confident that Chart can expand: "Although we would have preferred to stay independent, most of our shareholders are institutional investors and they were offered a price they couldn't resist."