1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
Hilton to buy Bain and Hodge from BOC
Page 27
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Also acquires Pollock (Musselburgh); More will follow' Ralph Hilton tells CM • A spectacular rise of lip in the Ralph Hilton Group shares on Tuesday preceded an announcement that HTS was to acquire most of the Bain and Hodge transport group from British Oxygen Co Ltd and had bought the Scottish long-distance haulier Pollock (Musselburgh) Ltd.
BOC bought the Bain and Hodge group transport companies in 1968 and will retain a section of them to engage in refrigerated food deliveries. The companies to be acquired by HTS include Export and General Ltd, George's Transport Ltd, C. E. Dormer Ltd, Jones Transport Services (Liverpool) Ltd, Jones Transport Services (Midland) Ltd, and Dunstable Transport and Storage Co Ltd. In addition there are garage and service companies.
The agreed haulage acquisitions are valued at £600,000, to be paid to HOC in 760,000 ordinary 10p HTS shares at market price.
In addition to the vehicles, HTS will have a two-year option on £4m-worth of HOC property which it plans to occupy in the meantime at a nominal rent. If the purchase, agreed in principle, goes through then Hilton will immediately acquire 210 vehicles and 233 trailers.
The Scottish company has been acquired for 310,000 ordinary HTS shares valued at £260,000 at current market prices. This is Hilton's first venture north of the border. It is understood that the Pollock family took the decision to sell to avoid the estate duty problems facing family businesses.
There are 65 tractive units and 75 trailers in the Pollock fleet, all 32-ton-gross outfits. The company has depots in Glasgow, Edinbuigh, Birmingham and London.
Mr W. G. D. Pollock, senior, who has been in haulage for 35 years, will continue as managing director of the company and will be joined on the board by his two sons. Assurances have been given concerning the conditions of present and future employment for the existing staff.
When the HTS purchase is finalised the Bain and Hodge management structure will remain unchanged for the time being but co-ordination of the constituent companies' activities is likely to take place in the near future. There is likely to be rationalization of some overlapping services.
Mr Ralph Hilton, the group chairman, told CM on Wednesday that he was aware of some scepticism in transport circles concerning the growth rate of his group, which with Bain and Hodge and Pollock will embrace 60 companies and 1800 vehicles. "The simple fact is that we are acquiring assets with the increased value of our issued shares," he said. "The 10p shares were originally sold for 45p and today they are at 84p, which is equal to those of Transport Development Group that were originally 25p."
He pointed out that his was the only transport company in the Financial Times Index which had a price/earnings ratio in excess of 20. "Our expansion is not finished yet", he said. "It is just a case of knowing what and when to acquire."
Assent for lorry parks
• The Highways Bill, which authorizes the setting up of lorry parks, was given the Royal Assent last week.