TVH initially proposed taking over Lavendon on its own. After it was rebuffed, it came back with a higher offer in concert with Ashtead, parent company of A-Plant.
Lavendon was swift to turn down the new offer as well and issued the following statement:
“The board believes that the approach from Ashtead and TVH is opportunistic and significantly undervalues the company. Accordingly, the board has no hesitation in unanimously rejecting the proposal.
“Since the announcement of the group's interim management statement on 16 November 2010, trading has been satisfactory and accordingly the board expects the results for the full year to be in line with its expectations.
“Group revenues for the six months since the half year, excluding ex-fleet equipment sales, increased by 3% over the same period in the prior year, reducing the rate of revenue decline for the year ended 31 December 2010 to 3% (2% on a constant currency basis), compared with the same period in the prior year.
“Cash generation has remained strong and the group's net debt has continued to reduce, slightly ahead of our expectations. As at 31 December 2010, the Group's net debt was £140m. Lavendon has committed banking facilities in place until September 2013, and the facility headroom at 31 December 2010 was £64m.
“Given the group's strong market positions and free cash flows, the board is confident that Lavendon is well placed to deliver significant value to shareholders over the medium term.”
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